Hundreds of people gathered in Chicago’s Federal Plaza Wednesday night less than a day after former President Donald Trump won his reelection bid to affirm their support for progressive policies like abortion access, immigrant rights and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.
The protest, the first of what organizers promised would be many as the country sizes up a second term under Trump, echoed common refrains from the former president’s first term that condemned Trump’s rhetoric about women, immigrants and other groups. But they also accused Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, of abandoning progressive ideals they felt could have propelled them into the White House.
Many at the rally, organized by several groups who protested U.S. military aid to Israel at the Democratic National Convention, argued that the Democratic Party’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, among other policies, had undercut Harris’ chance at victory.
Hatem Abudayyeh, the chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said he and other activists were “bracing ourselves and our movement and our organizations for four years of protests.”
“We reject the policies of Trump, we reject the policies of the MAGA movement and the city of Chicago especially rejects it,” he said.
But he held Harris, Walz and the Democratic Party responsible for Trump’s win, saying they had taken key Democratic constituencies’ votes for granted and were feeling the electoral consequences.
Frank Chapman, the director of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, called on those who were disappointed in the election’s outcome to join in on organizing efforts. Chapman said he hadn’t supported Harris’ candidacy, but rejected Trump in “every possible way” and exhorted rallygoers to get active around the causes that concerned them the most.
“This is a struggle to be carried out to the finish,” Chapman said. “We’ve got to defeat them. Welcome to the resistance.”
After a brief rally, about 400 people marched from Federal Plaza north to Trump Tower, chanting pro-Palestinian, pro-abortion and anti-Trump slogans.
Jenna Salter said she’d woken up Wednesday morning with a sense of dread and attended the protest with a battery of concerns, ranging from the safety of immigrants and LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. to fears about abortion availability. Salter, 27, said she works in health care and had seen access to reproductive health services eroded in other states where she’s worked.
“I think many conservatives don’t understand what falls under the umbrella term of abortion and miscarriage and how many women have already died since several states have repealed (abortion access) laws,” she said.
Danely Quiroz said she had attended the rally because she wanted to “keep her humanity intact” as a first-generation American. Quiroz, 26, said she felt that Harris had lost “a very easily won election.”
“It shows that we need something new,” she said. ”We need something different.”
