Protesters rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and anniversary of Trump’s inauguration
In spite of subfreezing temperatures, hundreds rallied Downtown on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to protest the policies of President Donald Trump on the first anniversary of his second inauguration.
Community leaders and representatives from nearly 60 grassroots organizations gathered at the Chicago Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue and marched to Trump Tower while chanting slogans, beating drums and carrying signs.
They demanded an end to enhanced federal immigration enforcement and called on agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to leave Chicago. Others sought a halt to hostilities in Gaza and a pause to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and other countries.
Protesters carried signs that read: “Stop ICE Terror Now;” “No U.S. War on Venezuela;” “Honor MLK Jr., End War;" “Immigrants Are Our Families;” “Justice For Renee Nicole Good;” and “Justice for Silverio Villegas González.” Good was shot to death this month by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Villegas González was a restaurant worker and father killed by ICE in Franklin Park in September.
At the foot of Trump Tower they unfurled banners that read Abolish ICE and F- - - Trump.
“Politicians and courts have demonstrably failed us. ICE continues to run rampant. The wars continue unchecked. The genocide in Palestine continues unchecked,” said Andy Thayer, of the Chicago Committee Against War and Racism and one of the protest organizers.
“The whole history of civil rights progress is that people force change and courts and politicians follow. That’s why we were out today on the bitterest cold day of the season,” Thayer said.
More than 200 people turned out for the protest and march, which was energized and upbeat despite temperature in the single digits with 40 mph winds.
The frigid weather couldn't keep Caitlin Kearney away. “What’s happening is not OK. Being out here is easy compared to what’s happening in Chicago and around the world,” said Kearney, who lives in Logan Square. “We have a moral obligation to stand up for what’s right.”
Chris Petruccelli of Ravenswood held a sign depicting a hoagie sandwich that read: “This Machine Kills Fascists.” What’s happening now in the U.S. “is too important to not show up,” he said. His sign referred to a viral video of a protester in Washington, D.C., who threw a sandwich at federal agents last year. The man was arrested and found not guilty on assault charges.
Speakers at Monday's rally Downtown included Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Ariel Basora of About Face: Veterans Against the War.
“I am thankful for the bravery of working people fighting against fascists, imperialism, poverty, racism and militarism dividing working people so the billionaire class continues to exploit people,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “In Chicago we fight back. Remember MLK Jr, because we have to look at the past so we can fight for the future.”
Basora reminded the crowd that “Every time they make a missile to kill someone else, they steal from us.”
About Face is “against all wars that aren’t for pure defense, and we haven’t fought one of those in any of our lifetimes," he continued. "It’s hard to admit that. It’s hard to go through those years of service and think your time is wasted, your soul is spent. But it can be rejuvenated by healing those around you. You can prevent further wars,” Basora said.
Other speakers included Danelle Wylder of Stop Trans Genocide; Nino Brown of the Party for Socialism and Liberation; Christina Perez of Dominican University; representatives of the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Students for Justice in Palestine; Abla Gharib of Chicago ADAPT, a disability advocacy group; and Evelyn Zepeda of the CEIBA Collective, a grassroots organization representing Central American diaspora.
Jinan Chehade of American Muslims for Palestine and Victoria Cervantes of La Voz de los de Abajo emceed the event.