Around 1,400 people from Elmhurst and a few from neighboring suburbs, gathered in Elmhurst to participate in “No Kings Day” protests that took place nationwide on Saturday.
On a cold winter Saturday in February of this year, Grace Clear came to Elmhurst City Hall and protested outside with a sign defending democracy.
The following Saturday, a few people joined her. Then the next Saturday, more people joined and shortly thereafter, this group of people had a rally every Saturday at city hall from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Clear is a board member with Progressives for Change. According to their website, progressives4change.org, “Progressives for Change is an inclusive and progressive network of residents determined to cultivate an informed and engaged citizenry in Elmhurst, IL and beyond. We gather to advocate, educate, and empower ourselves and others.”
On Saturday, June 14, at 1:30 p.m., people gathered in downtown Elmhurst outside of city hall to participate in the “No Kings Day” nationwide protest.
Members of Progressives for Change in Elmhurst organized and coordinated the logistics of Saturday’s event. People of all ages and ethnic backgrounds rallied around the city hall building with their posters. The posters displayed messages defending democracy and protesting the policies of the Trump Administration.
The crowd of people walked from city hall to Glos Memorial Park while chanting different phrases expressing their disapproval of President Donald Trump and his administration’s actions with cutting federal jobs, defunding public programs, deportation procedures of immigrants without due process, President Trump’s alleged authoritarian behavior and many more issues.
People rallied all the way to Glos Memorial Park with many cars beeping in support as they drove by. In response to every car that beeped, the crowd cheered and chanted “No More Trump!” among other phrases.
The crowd grew silent around 2:25 p.m. when Clear thanked the crowd for showing up to protest. She was followed by guest speakers Andrew Honig, DuPage County Board Member for District 2 and Elizabeth (Liz) Chaplin, DuPage County Recorder.
Both Honig and Chaplin expressed the importance of people continuing to make their voices heard by participating in protests and by showing up at the ballots in upcoming elections.
The speeches concluded with John Baker, a board member of Progressives for Change, recognizing Clear for starting the very first protest for democracy in Elmhurst and for taking the lead with organizing Saturday’s event. He also announced that there were approximately 1,400 people in attendance Saturday.
Afterwards, the crowd continued to rally at the park and then marched back to city hall while displaying their posters and chanting various phrases such as, “This is what democracy looks like!”
Several Elmhurst police officers were nearby monitoring the rally during the entire event, and it remained peaceful even when two or three pro-Trump supporters showed up with MAGA flags trying to disrupt the protest.
Clear reminded the participants to refrain from interacting with pro-Trump supporters to keep it peaceful.
Members of the Progressives for Change said they were impressed by the large number of people who participated in the “No Kings Day” protest.
Prior to Saturday’s event, the organization’s largest rally consisted of 350 people on “Hands Off” day of action on April 5. That was also a nationwide protest against the Trump Administration’s policies, but on a smaller scale, whereas, Saturday’s protest was even more significant since hundreds of cities across the nation were participating in a “No Kings Day” protest.
When asked what propelled her to start protesting by herself. Clear said that the driving force behind her protesting in February stemmed from the election of President Trump and the way she said he started dismantling things. She mentioned there were so many things that drove her to react with “enough is enough.” She said she felt a strong desire to do something and speak up.
Since her first protest in February, Clear said she has received positive feedback from many residents who are happy to see her speaking up and doing something. Most of the people who started joining her in the protests are seniors who can’t travel outside of Elmhurst, but still wanted their voices heard. She said they are also representing the voices of those who can’t come out to protest because they feel they are targeted by the Trump Administration.
When asked what it means to have the protest on Flag Day, Clear responded, “It means everything, everything because often the liberals aren’t seen as being patriotic. We’re just as patriotic as the next person and the flag belongs to all of us; it really does.”