Protests are planned across the country this weekend, including here in northern Illinois.
The “No Kings” label is a coordinated effort with an emphasis around non-violent protests against what organizers call absolute rule in America. This summer, that looked like protests against Trump administration policies related to immigration and abortion.
No Kings 2.0 comes during a government shutdown, a battle over healthcare and cuts to federal agencies and grants. There’s growing concern about aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago and into the rest of northern Illinois. One of the protests is scheduled at DeKalb’s Hopkins Park. Meryl Domina is an organizer of that event. She says she hopes lawmakers and members of the general public in DeKalb take notice of the movement.
"Every time I've been on a march or a demonstration, I go home and within two or three days, I write a letter to all the federal legislators, our two senators, our representative, and sometimes I send to other representatives saying, 'This is what we did in DeKalb,'" Domina said.
Some critics of the protests accuse Democrats of prolonging the government shutdown due to the "No Kings" protests. House Speaker Mike Johnson has publicly slammed a protest march scheduled at the National Mall, characterizing it as a “hate America rally.” People who defend the movement say peaceful protests are a First Amendment right.