Thousands rallied and marched around downtown Saturday afternoon to take part in a national day of action to say “hands off” to President Donald Trump’s administration.
So-called Hands Off! demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The rallies appeared peaceful, with no immediate reports of arrests.
In Chicago, a flood of people swarmed Daley Plaza, with hundreds filling the surrounding streets by noon. The crowd then began an hourlong march making a loop around to State Street and then back to Daley Plaza.
People of all ages and backgrounds made up the protest in Chicago. Holding signs and posters seemed more common than not, with many expressing similar sentiments, like “hands off” immigrants, reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, democracy, lgbtq+ rights and more.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications said it does not provide crowd counts.
Anthony and Veena Claypool journeyed downtown with their 9-year-old twin sons from the Belmont Cragin neighborhood for the mass gathering. Both former public school teachers, the Claypools said they wanted to show up to set an example for their sons.
“One part of what we’re doing is modeling what it means to stand up for all of our community members and to be upstanders, even though we feel generally protected in Chicago and Illinois, we are standing up for historically marginalized groups all over who don’t have all the same privileges and accesses that we do,” Veena Claypool said.
Wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, she said one of her sons had asked her if she should be “wearing that in the presence of police.”
“That is really concerning to me,” she said. “My children are growing up in the era of protests, so they do have a fear of police. It doesn’t mean we won’t continue to exercise our rights and make our voices heard, especially for those who don’t have the same luxury.”
Anthony Claypool said the government is “on the precipice of a fascist takeover as billionaires are sitting in every important” Cabinet position. He said immigration enforcement has “become completely unhinged,” intentional efforts are being made to alienate allies, hate crimes are on the rise and a lack of due process persists.
“Everything that the United States claims to be, they are undermining,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ok.”
Photographer Bari Baskin and her mother, Sandra Baskin, a real estate agent, said they participated to “resist the collapse of our democracy” and be a “part of the power of the people.”
Bari Baskin said she marched in Washington, D.C., in 2016 and “can’t believe we have to do this again” but was “encouraged” by the crowd size.
“Our numbers are bigger than those trying to destroy us,” she said. “Joy is a form of resistance, and this turnout is giving me a lot of joy.”
Asked about the protests, the White House said “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”
Erin Sinnaeve and her daughter Megan Sinnaeve traveled over an hour from Aurora to join the protest. Erin Sinnaeve, a veteran who worked as a nurse in the Navy, said she joined the day of action to protect the rights of her daughter and all children and ensure proper access to health care and education, as well as support veteran job security.
“It’s better to be out here caring about the community than to be at home watching the news and getting stressed out,” she said.
Megan Sinnaeve, a college student, said she wanted to “be here today for the people that can’t be.”
“It’s through people and their civic duties that we are going to restore democracy,” she said. “It’s through civic engagement that change is going to happen. Through all these people from different backgrounds and generations, change will come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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