Shortly after noon, Indivisible Chicago Board Vice Chair Denise Poloyac began the city’s Daley Plaza rally with a moment of silence for the Minnesota officials and their spouses attacked in a shooting early Saturday , two of whom were killed.

Poloyac led the crowd in a chant of “No to kings! No to tyranny! No to ICE!” before speakers from Indivisible Chicago and the Chicago Teachers’ Union, as well as Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Chuy Garcia.

“When I look out at this gathering, I don’t see Daley Plaza, I don’t even see this city,” Durbin said. “I see America. I see a country that decided in 1776, no kings in America.”

Durbin spoke of his time pushing for the DREAM Act with Sen. Alex Padilla from California, who was forcibly removed during a Department of Homeland Security press conference earlier this week.

“It’s an indication of where this administration wants to take us,” Durbin said. “You saw what they did to him. They shackled him, they beat him.”

Durbin urged people to register more voters for the next election and continue turning out for nonviolent protest. He faced a brief opposition from some in the crowd when he said the last election was lost by those who stayed home.

People hold signs at a “No Kings” protest in Chicago on June 14, 2025.

People hold signs at a “No Kings” protest in Chicago on June 14, 2025.

Grassroots group We Can Lead Change and other organizations are leading a rally on South Randall Road and Gleneagle Drive in Geneva.

The rally goes until 1 p.m. Organizers are hoping for thousands to turn out today.

Protesters line up along South Randall Road in Geneva Saturday morning for a “No Kings” rally.

About 1,000 people were already gathered at Daley Plaza Saturday morning ahead of the “No Kings” protest, beginning at noon.

Demonstrators displayed signs with messages including everything from “Make America Less Cringe Again” to “Immigrants Make America Great.”

Inspirational and protest songs such as “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers and “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” by Bob Dylan played over the loudspeakers.

Indivisible Chicago, one of the rally’s coordinating organizers, said it’s expecting tens of thousands of attendees and a peaceful day of protest.

“Today is an opportunity for Chicagoans to come together and say we are opposed to the Trump administration’s authoritarian tactics,” said Kathy Tholin, board chair of Indivisible Chicago.

Susan Seidel, an Indivisible volunteer, said the presence of American flags and a commitment to nonviolence was the group’s way of retaking their country.

“We came here to have no kings,” she said. “In fact our flag doesn’t belong to Mr. Trump, it belongs to us, so I’m glad we’re reclaiming it.”

Retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky then took the stage to chants of “Thank you, Jan.”

Schakowsky spoke of elder constituents she had spoken to who were fearful of losing health care like Medicare and Medicaid.

“Can we stop him?” she asked to a resounding “Yes.” “Yes, we can. And we’re not gonna stop until we win.”

Kay Makarenko sat front row at the protest with a sign reading “If there’s money for a parade, then use that money for Medicaid.”

“I’m very scared for my grandchildren,” she said, noting many of them are just entering the adult world. “They won’t have the freedom, it’s being taken away. I’m very discouraged.”

The 85-year-old Lincolnwood resident also relies on Medicaid and said she wouldn’t last long with the current proposed cuts.

Living in an elder care facility, it helps level the cost for her, but if it’s cut: “I’d be in the poor house,” Makarenko said.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky addresses a crowd at an Evanston No Kings rally in Fountain Square.