The plaza in front of and to the sides of Highland Park’s City Hall was packed on Saturday, for the second No Kings protest held in this north suburb, with the people carrying a common message in their signs: they are protesting President Trump’s increasing authoritarian rule.
One sign seemed to summarize what the protesters were trying to accomplish as the Trump administration is rapidly changing the direction of the federal government. “America Wake Up! Show Up! Speak Up!”
The rally crowd at Highland Park appeared larger than the one in June, marked by the number of homemade signs with unique messages.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Illinois, said he saw thousands of people there and in Gurnee, “standing united to say, ‘We are a country built on the Constitution. We are a country of laws. We are not a country of a king, and we, the people are standing up to make sure our country’s future is one based on that Constitution, built on the laws securing our kids’ future for years to come.’”
“He is usurping power,” said Susan Maurer, from Skokie, a retired City Colleges teacher.
For Jeannette Samson a floral designer from Deerfield, Saturday marked the second No Kings march she’s attended. “I am here because I am really disturbed about where this country is going” and she feels “compelled to stand up for my rights and to express to this administration that we are going the wrong way.”
Trump and his allies have been trying to frame the people who go to the “No Kings” rallies as people who “hate” the country.
That’s why Samson’s sign provided a rebuttal. Her home made sign said “I don’t hate the USA. I hate what you’re doing to it,” referring to Trump. “Thank you for your attention to this matter,” with the last line a take-off on one of Trump’s signature sign-offs on his Truth Social posts.
Shelley Riskin of Glenview was holding a sign that said “Rise Up Fight Back.” She said she was at the rally because “when I see what is happening, that I so cruel and unbelievable and un-American, I must protest and be here.”
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