Large protests in Chicago area feature participants trained to protest
peacefully
[June 16, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Tens of thousands of people rallied across
Illinois Saturday in organized protests against the Trump
administration.
Our Revolution activist James Rodriguez said groups in over 2,000 cities
around the country were standing up to President Donald Trump.
“We’re really trying to stand up to Trump and the [oligarchies] and
reject any type of idea that our country is going to be run by a king,”
Rodriguez told The Center Square.
While the president hosted a parade in Washington D.C. to celebrate the
250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, Rodriguez and thousands more joined
a coalition of progressive political groups marching in downtown
Chicago.
“This is an historic time for American history. We have never seen a
president enact military the way that we have ever since the times of
Martin Luther King,” Rodriguez said.
Several protesters carried signs with profanities aimed at the president
or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but there were no immediate
reports of violence at “No Kings” protests in Illinois.
Rodriguez said organizers opposed violence at protests.
“We actually have been doing trainings with everyone that signs on to
RSVP for these protests to let them know how to peacefully protest,”
Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said he thought a lot of the violence in Los Angeles last week
was started by the military interrogating protesters, though video
evidence showed rioters throwing bricks at immigration vehicles,
starting fires and more.
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By Spencer Pauley | The Center Square
One of the organizing groups in the Windy City, Indivisible Chicago,
called for a national day of defiance but also urged participants
not to engage in violence.
When asked earlier in the week about police presence at protests,
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the resistance had one enemy and
suggested the enemy was Trump.
Rodriguez said the Chicago rally was intended to support immigrants
but not to protest against local police.
“I think Chicago is known as being a large city that’s founded on
immigrants. We have a lot of immigrant-owned businesses in Chicago
that the [Chicago Police Department] are always supportive of,”
Rodriguez said.
Illinois U.S. Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Mike Quigley were among
the elected officials who joined the crowd of protesters at Daley
Plaza in Chicago’s Loop.
Quigley said in a video on X that residents from across the city
were “standing up against the authoritarianism of the Trump
administration.”
Groups partnering with Indivisible Chicago included the ACLU of
Illinois, the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Chicago Teachers
Union, Citizen Action/Illinois, Equality Illinois, Illinois NOW,
Trans Up Front IL and Young Dems of Chicago.
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