Thousands march down Lake Street at latest anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protest 

Thousands of protestors poured into Oak Park to demonstrate against President Donald Trump once again on Saturday. 

The crowd of protestors gathered in Scoville Park for speeches and protest songs and then marched in a loop from Oak Park Avenue to Harlem Avenue along Lake Street chanting slogans and carrying signs referencing Trump’s mass deportation campaign, the war with Iran, Trump’s relationship with the late pedophile Jeffery Epstein, federal budget cuts and other grievances. The Oak Park “No Kings” protest was one of more than 30 interconnected demonstrations in the Chicago area and one of roughly 3,000 nationwide on Saturday, March 28, according to protest organizers. 

There have been several large anti-Trump demonstrations on Lake Street since the president took office last year. 

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon was among the crowd on the sunny Saturday morning. Harmon spoke to Wednesday Journal while standing a few feet away from Oak Park Village President Vicki Scaman. 

“I wish we had more tools to tackle these problems but in the interim, this is what we need to do,” said Harmon. “There’s such a long list of grievances and threats to our democracy. What I’ve sensed today though is a sense of community, that being together with people who’re similarly situated really does help the soul. I’ve seen more smiles than you’d expect, just because people are with each other and fighting the fight.” 

Some protestors said that participating in the march was an uplifting experience that made them feel less isolated.  

“We need our democracy back,” said Scarlett Evans of Chicago, who came to the protest with a friend from church. “We have to fight to get it back, everybody has to come out and show that it’s very important.” 

The crowd in the village often straddled a line between Midwestern friendliness and deep feelings of political rage and dread, as Oak Parkers smiled and waved at neighbors while holding signs comparing the president and his allies to the leaders of Nazi Germany.  

Frank, an Oak Park resident who wished to remain anonymous, said that outrage over ICE’s local deportation efforts and Trump’s push for a bill that would require proof of citizenship in order to vote were among the issues that brought him to the protest. He carried a sign that read “Nuremberg Reckoning,” a reference to the Nuremberg military tribunals held for Nazi leadership after World War II. 

“There needs to be a reckoning for the crimes that are happening now,” he said. “ICE are no different than the Brown shirts, or the slave catchers. They and the rest of the Trump administration need to be held accountable.” 

 Naomi, another Oak Parker at the protest who wished to remain anonymous, said her life’s work had been directly impacted by the president taking office. A counselor for a domestic violence support organization, she said she’dseen federal funding cuts and fear of deportation make it more difficult for her group to serve people impacted by domestic violence in the area.  

Worse still, Trump’s presidency has normalized abuse, she said. 

“I recognize abusers and Trump is one of them, he has the textbook qualities of an abuser and he represents the things we want to end,” she said, while holding a sign referencing Trump’s ties to Epstein.