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Thousands of Chicagoans are expected to gather at Grant Park downtown Saturday to protest the Trump administration\u2019s policies, including the president\u2019s aggressive deportation campaign that has sent federal agents and troops to the city.<\/p>\n
They will join protesters packing parks and lining sidewalks in the city\u2019s suburbs and in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, San Francisco and more than 2,000 locales across the country in a \u201cnationwide day of defiance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cHands Off Chicago\u201d rally downtown at noon is organized by dozens of local advocacy groups, including Indivisible Chicago and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.<\/p>\n
Organizers said it is meant to push back against the \u201cimmoral and illegal acts\u201d the Trump administration has taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the opportunity to specifically speak out against the invasion of Chicago, in addition to ways the administration is attacking our workers, our democracy and our country,\u201d Indivisible Chicago Chair Kathy Tholin told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eyes of our nation are on Chicago as we respond to these federal attacks,\u201d Tholin said. She urged those who don\u2019t feel targeted by federal immigration agents to show up in support of the city\u2019s immigrant and other vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, have slammed the protest as a \u201cHate America Rally.\u201d Republican governors in Texas and Virginia have said they are ready to use the National Guard to respond to \u201cacts of violence or damaging property\u201d during the protest.<\/p>\n
Chicago organizers said they are committed to \u201cnonviolent action\u201d and urged participants to de-escalate any potential confrontations.<\/p>\n
Madeline Townsend, a board member of the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago, said the group does not expect an aggressive response from Chicago police or federal agencies to the Downtown rally.<\/p>\n
Townsend said the group will have legal observers at that protest and smaller events across the region. She advised participants to learn about their rights and legal protections before this weekend, in case they come in contact with law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n
The Chicago rally comes four months after the first \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest, which drew about 15,000 to downtown and more to the suburbs, according to estimates. The June protest was meant to counter a military parade in Washington to mark the Army\u2019s 250th anniversary and Trump\u2019s 79th birthday.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s events also follow smaller demonstrations at Broadview\u2019s ICE facility<\/u><\/a>, Downtown<\/u><\/a> and other sites of ICE activities<\/u><\/a>. Some of these protests were met with an aggressive response from federal agents, who have used tear gas and other crowd control tactics and arrested some protesters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n