Thousands of Chicagoans rise up and fight back against Trump/Musk agenda in massive rally, march (Chicago, IL) – More than 30,000 people rallied and marched in downtown Chicago today as part of a nationwide day of action to rise up and fight back against attacks from Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the entire Trump administration. Advocates, supporters, and Chicagoland residents came together to demand Donald Trump and Elon Musk take their hands off our people, our economy, our government, our workers, and the critical services countless people rely on.
“In just a few short months, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have slashed thousands of jobs, gutted worker protections, and destabilized the entire economy,” said Bob Reiter, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “We will not allow Trump and Musk to loot our government and shred our economy for their own personal gain, and we will not sit by while they destroy critical services and the dedicated workers who provide them. Chicago is ready to rise up and fight back!”
“We are bearing witness to an expanding crisis — an administration carrying out a coup, breaking laws, stealing resources, and attacking the most vulnerable. This is government by the bullies, for the billionaires,” said Betty Alzamora, Board Member of Indivisible Chicago. “We demand an end to this assault on the resources we the people built to protect each other. Together we act. We show up. We speak out. And we protest!”
“Donald Trump has chosen to attack Trans people to distract the country away from all our legitimate problems, to rile up the masses against 1% of the population while the administration tanks our stock market, drives up food prices, and denies health care to millions,” said LGBTQ+ advocacy leader Precious Brady-Davis. “We’re going to do what the LGBTQ+ community has always done when things get hard – we stand in solidarity, we love each other, and we fight back.”
“The Trump administration’s pointed and aggressive attacks on immigrants and refugees have turned up the volume on the long-standing anti-immigrant sentiment in this country,” said Lawrence Benito, Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). “We are the ones who must keep each other safe, and our power comes from our strong communities.”
“Over 35 years ago, Illinoisans got to work and fought back to protect abortion,” said Sarah Garza Resnick, CEO of abortion rights advocacy organization Personal PAC. “Organizations like Personal PAC were formed to recruit and elect leaders who will fight for us – and then hold them accountable. Today, we cannot let anti-abortion extremism become the norm, and we will not become numb to what is happening in states surrounding Illinois. We are ready to fight back.”
“No one voted to let polluters have their way with our Great Lakes, to fire the EPA scientists who protect our health, or to sell off our parks and forests to the highest bidder to finance tax cuts for the rich,” said Sierra Club Illinois Executive Director Jack Darin. “That’s why we rise up today, to protect our environmental justice communities, and to fight back for cleaner air and cleaner water for all.”
The rally, part of a national day of action that included events in hundreds of towns and cities across the country, was organized by the Chicago Federation of Labor, Equality Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Indivisible Chicago, Personal PAC, and Sierra Club Illinois.
For more information or to request photographs, video content, or follow-up interviews, please contact Jake Lewis at jake@sjlcommunications.com.
Additional organizations who have signed on in support include: ACLU of Illinois; AIDS Foundation Chicago; Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment Chicago; American Federation of Government Employees Local 704; Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago; Asian American Midwest Progressives; Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241; Chicago Abortion Fund; Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; Chicago Jobs with Justice; Chicago Teachers Union; Chicago Principals and Administrators Association; Chicago Women Take Action; Common Cause Illinois; Community of Congregations; Democratic Party of the 49th Ward; Democratic Party of Illinois; Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Sanctuary Committee; Faith in Place; Family Focus; 50501 Chicago; 50th Ward Action Network; 40th Ward Democratic Organization; 46th Ward Neighbors United; 47th Ward Democrats; Gemmes for Femmes; Human Rights Campaign; ICAN!; IFPTE Local 777; Illinois Environmental Council; Illinois Handmaids; IL NOW; Illinois Nurses Association; Impact for Equity; Indivisible Downtown Chicago; Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park/Old Town; Indivisible Lincoln Square; Indivisible Chicago-South Side; Indivisible Westside; Indivisible West Suburban Chicago; League of Women Voters of Chicago; Men4Choice Advocacy; NAKASEC Action Fund; National Association of Letter Carriers; Network 49; New Trier Democrats; Painters District Council #14; Peoria Proud; P.E.R.R.O.; Planned Parenthood Illinois Action; POWER-PAC IL; SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana; SEIU Local 1; She Votes Illinois; Stand Up for Science; The People’s Lobby; The People’s 32nd; Third Act Illinois; 350 Chicago; Trans Up Front IL; Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois; UNITE HERE Local 1; Uniting Pride; Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation; Wellington UCC; and Working Families Party Illinois.
Thousands of Chicagoans rise up and fight back against Trump/Musk agenda in massive rally, march
