Thousands of demonstrators rallied for the second No Kings protest against the Trump administration Saturday afternoon. Protesters chanted, held signs, wore costumes and sang songs outside the Champaign County Courthouse before marching through downtown Urbana.
Organizers wrote they were protesting across the nation against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and efforts “to secure power by occupying or trying to occupy free American cities like Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, and Portland, Ore.”
A coalition of various community organizations — led by Indivisible Illinois — organized the demonstration. Several groups, including the campus chapters of Young Democratic Socialists of America, Illini Democrats and Graduate Employees’ Organization, spoke in support.
The federal government has stepped up deportation efforts and sent National Guard troops, including University students, to Chicago and other Democrat-led cities. The administration argues the Guard is necessary to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement, quell protests and fight what President Donald Trump claims is rampant crime.
Community members in Chicago have resisted the aggressive campaign, resulting in clashes between federal agents and the Chicago community.
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Protesters in Urbana Saturday said there’s no need for the Guard’s deployment in Chicago or in other cities. A court last week prohibited the deployment of troops and rebuked Trump’s claims about crime in Chicago, saying they contradict local crime statistics.
“That’s just an excuse,” said Rey Camas, junior in LAS and secretary of the Illini Democrats. “If you see other cities that have Republican governments, they have higher crime rates than those that (Trump’s) targeting, whether that’s Portland or Chicago or other cities with Democratic governments.”
Chicago’s homicide rate decreased over 30% in the first six months of the year compared to last year, according to FactCheck. Trump incorrectly called Chicago the murder capital of the world. There are more than 20 cities in the U.S. with higher murder rates than Chicago.
Protesters were also critical of the administration’s federal cuts to social services, research funding and education.
Nathan Knoll, graduate student studying European union studies, expressed frustration over federal education cuts in an interview with The Daily Illini.
Knoll explained that he was set to receive federal funding to pursue his master’s degree, but the funds were terminated by the administration. Afterward, the University gave Knoll a one-time tuition waiver, he said.
“The education cuts definitely jeopardized my ability to pay rent and stay here and even do this program,” Knoll said. “So that’s something that is really driving me to get out here.”
Knoll continued by sharing the impact the education and research funding cuts have had on those around him, pointing to his roommate as an example.
“My roommate … is looking to do a disease ecology lab for a master’s degree, and he has been getting rejected left and right from places because there just is no funding,” Knoll said. “So a lot of people I met and know … can’t really find a place to study. So it’s unfortunate.”
Several community leaders also attended the protest. Danielle Chynoweth, supervisor of Cunningham Township — which provides financial assistance to Urbana residents — said in a speech that the United States is in a political crisis at the same scale or worse than the Great Depression.
“We have created structures of care that have lasted almost a century,” Chynoweth said. “The New Deal created public income, public health care, public food support, public housing. Now those supports are threatened. They’re being torn apart before our eyes.”
Chynoweth quoted 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who enacted the New Deal — a sprawling economic relief law — during his terms in the ’30s. The quote came from Roosevelt’s address to Congress about curbing monopolies in 1938.
“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself,” Chynoweth said, quoting Roosevelt. “That, in its essence, is fascism.”
Chynoweth then strongly proclaimed that Americans must “remake, reconstruct and refound democracy.”
Matthew Hurtado, sophomore in LAS and representative from YDSA, told The DI in an interview he joined the protest to oppose several of the Trump administration’s actions.
“There’s so many (actions), to be completely honest — ICE invading our communities, the federal guard being sent into Chicago,” Hurtado said. “I feel like every move he’s doing right now is designed to make me mad, and I think a lot of students feel that same sentiment.”
The most important action community members can take, Hurtado said, is uniting together.
“We need solidarity among groups,” Hurtado said. “We need to all be united and say, ‘We are going to resist together.’”
In response to the No Kings protests across the country, the Trump administration and allies have been critical. Congressional Republicans and administration officials have labeled the demonstrations “Hate America” rallies and blamed “Antifa” for organizing them.
One protester, Thomas Saottene, wore a unicorn costume and said he sought to combat claims made by Republicans that the protesters only want to cause destruction.
“We’re not the same,” Saottene said. “They try to make that claim, and everything that the right is accusing us of is things they’re doing. It’s gaslighting, and I think that these kinds of displays make those claims ridiculous.”
Despite calls for solidarity, there was dissent among some groups in the area.
On Friday, four groups — Students for Justice in Palestine UIUC, the John O’Reiley Society, Walrus Anarchist Collective and CU Muslim Action Committee — posted a letter criticizing the No Kings organizers for collaborating with law enforcement, failing to call for the abolition of ICE and for being “beholden to liberal zionists.”
They claimed the No Kings organizers told speakers across the country not to talk about Palestine.
Nonetheless, multiple speakers at the protest, including Camas of the Illini Dems and Matthew — a representative for GEO who did not share his last name — expressed their support of Palestine and called for the U.S. and the University to divest from Israel.
At approximately 1:15 p.m., demonstrators began marching south on Vine Street, chanting “Donald Trump has got to go,” and “This is what democracy looks like.” Some people in cars honked their horns, prompting cheers from the protesters.
The group turned right on Illinois Street and marched westward, turning again at Race Street and circling the Champaign County Courthouse and Lincoln Square Mall. Despite light rain, demonstrators appeared unshaken.
“I hope this turns out to be the biggest protest in American history,” said Savoy resident Don King. “The people have to come together. And I don’t mind if somebody has a different opinion politically, but let’s just have debates. Let’s not do this fighting, it’s dividing us, and they’re going to conquer us if they divide us like that.”
Brandi Lowe, a protester who donned a unicorn costume, called for the Trump administration to be removed. Lisa Long, a Danville, Illinois, resident who wore a rubber chicken costume, told The DI she wants the community to stand up against the administration together.
“I’m hoping this shows everybody they’re not alone, and we’re willing to rise and stand out, and that we can do this together,” Long said.
After returning to the front of the Courthouse, attendees dispersed in different directions. One group gathered close to the intersection at Main and Vine Streets, and another collected at the intersection of Main and Broadway.
The official end time for the event was 2 p.m., which was when many protesters dispersed from the area. A subsequent demonstration began soon after at the intersection of Main and Vine Streets.
