'No Kings' rallies kick off in Evanston, Cicero and Lincoln Square as hundreds expected to protest in Chicago

As Joanne Bertalan sat in her wheelchair on a crisp and sunny morning during Evanston's "No Kings" rally, she thought back to the civil rights protests she attended as a college student at Bradley University in 1964.

“We’ve been here before,” said Bertalan, 77. “These people have all lived through a lot of stuff and wars. It’s got a lot of veterans here and they're done with this.”

She was among a few hundred people gathered Saturday in Evanston to kick off protests taking place across the country. The nationwide rallies, dubbed "No Kings," are protesting President Donald Trump's policies including immigration, the rollback of transgender rights and the war in Iran.

Organizers expect more than 3,100 events to take place in the U.S., and protests are also planned for Europe, the AP reported. Rallies are planned Saturday for Grant Park, Lincoln Square and Irving Park in Chicago. Just outside of the city, other rallies will take place in Cicero, Oak Park, Forest Park and Evergreen Park.

Last fall, tens of thousands of people attended similar protests across the Chicago region. Republicans had branded the protests as, "Hate America Rally."

In Evanston, the crowd skews grayer, with demonstrators carrying not only posters but canes, walkers, beach chairs and wheelchairs. Bertalan attended the rally with her 57-year-old daughter, Cheree Bertalan. Both attended the 'No Kings' rally last year and returned for the event, noting they appreciated the peaceful demonstration that brought out dogs, grandmothers and young children alike.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who just won the Democratic primary last week for Illinois’ 9th congressional district, took the stage around 10:45 a.m. to loud cheers.

“Things have gotten worse,” Biss said. “ There is a war, an unjust, illegal, deranged war. We endured a violent federal occupation in our streets, here in Evanston and across the Chicago area throughout the fall, and then they went on to Minneapolis, where they just started shooting people.“

Fighting for rights ‘no matter what’

Outside of Cicero Town Hall, a crowd of 60 people gathered, holding signs stating, "Ice Out," "No Kings," and "Stop the War."

“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!” they shouted at one point, as cars on West Cermak Road honked in approval.

The protest was organized by the Cicero Berwyn Community Web to galvanize the predominantly Latino neighborhoods. Volunteers said they wanted to provide a welcoming, accessible and joyful way for people to protest, especially for those who could not make it to Grant Park. They provided snacks, chairs and decorations, including piñatas designed to resemble Trump and Cicero Town President Larry Dominick.

Volunteer Melissa Mouritsen, who held an upside down U.S. flag, said she was protesting authoritarianism, and reflecting on nation’s forthcoming 250th anniversary.

“They want us to be scared,” she said. “They want us to think their ICE agents at the airport are going to make us afraid to travel or live our lives and we’re not going to do that. We’re the inheritors of the Declaration of Independence. We’re the inheritors of the right and liberties and we are going to fight for them no matter what. But we’re going to do it joyously.”

Stickney resident Rae Disco, 46, and her two daughters, Lilith, 7, and Elly, 13, were also among those who joined the protesters.

“The easiest possible thing anybody can do to support this cause is to just make your voice heard,” Disco said. “So I’m training my two daughters not to blindly accept any government or authority. I want them to be autonomous, and part of that means that we have to fight for what is, constitutionally, our rights.”

Disco said her primary concern was the rollback of reproductive rights, as well as Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Her daughter, Elly, said she felt like she was living in a dystopian novel.

“It’s something that future generations are going to look back on and can’t believe is happening,” Elly said.

Children join rallies in Lincoln Square

Hours before thousands of people were expected to march downtown for a “No Kings” protest decrying President Donald Trump and his policies, a smaller but impassioned group gathered in Lincoln Square.

Around 100 people came to Welles Park carrying signs opposing Trump. People brought their kids and dogs, and chalk messages like “Choose love” and “Love thy neighbor” covered sidewalks.

The group sang “This is for our people who are locked inside, together we will abolish ICE,” before marching the perimeter of the park.

Brenna O’Brien, a local parent who organized the protest as an alternative to the Grant Park rally, addressed the group before the march.

“We’re not loyal to a mad king trying to take over the country,” she said to cheers. “Chicagoans take care of each other and we will not let him take over this city.”

Meagan Moore, of Lincoln Square, took her 6-year-old son, Theo, and 4-year-old daughter, Ada, to the protest. The children made their own signs, Moore said.

“This is a picture of people fighting and I put an X over it,” Theo said, holding his sign that read, “No more wars.”

Selena G., who declined to give her last name, brought her 6-year-old son to the Lincoln Square protest. Her parents weren’t politically involved, she said, and she wasn’t very informed until she was older. With her son, she wants to change that.

Selena said the intense immigration activity last year rocked her Albany Park community, and that was one of many reasons why she showed up to Saturday's protest. She's gotten involved in her community by helping walk other children to school and stocking whistles in public places so neighbors could alert each other about ICE activity.

Selena has found solace being among neighbors.

“Sometimes it just feels good to know that everyone else is also upset,” she said. “I find that this is really uplifting even though everything else is kind of terrible.”

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