Shouts of “This is what democracy looks like” and “We’ve got the power” rang out through downtown Naperville Tuesday as a group of about 70 demonstrators rallied in protest to President Donald Trump’s slashing of the federal government.
The “No Taxes for Tyrants” rally — aptly held on Tax Day — was organized by Indivisible Naperville to “demand that our tax dollars be used to fund public education, environmental protections, scientific research, public health and more,” the organization said in an event invitation.
Over recent months, scores of federal agencies have become targets of the Trump administration and billionaire advisor Elon Musk’s campaign to cut government spending, including the Education Department, Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tuesday evening a small crowd had gathered behind Naperville Woman’s Club. Attendees held signs that read “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention” and “Stand up for science.”
Remarks from local elected officials and union leaders kicked off the event. Among them were U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and State Sen. Laura Ellman, both Naperville Democrats, as well as State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago.
“I want to thank all of you for being out here to take the first important steps in this long, hard path that we’re going to be taking together over the next four years,” Foster told demonstrators.
Foster encouraged attendees to stay engaged. “Rallies like this … let everyone know that this is not OK,” he said.
He also pointed to the results of the April 1 election, which featured wide-ranging Democratic victories across the suburbs. In Naperville alone, it was a clean sweep for Democratically-aligned candidates in the races for Naperville City Council and Naperville Park Board. Statewide, the Democratic Party of Illinois backed 280 candidates in the recent municipal elections, of which 222 — or 79% — won their races.
“That sent a message that was heard in Washington D.C.,” Foster said, “that the brand of the Republican party has been tarnished and will continue to be tarnished until they stand up and cast off the great orange one.”
Ellman likewise took aim at the Trump administration.
“I have been serving in the state Senate since January 2019, when I took an oath of office to defend and support the Constitution of the United States,” she said. “And our president is ripping it up.”
Trump is “bad for the economy, he’s bad for our health, he’s bad for our democracy and he’s bad for the world stage,” she said.
“So what can we do about it?” she asked the crowd. “Well, we’re doing job (No. 1) right here.”
Demonstrators responded with cheers.
The crowd also heard from Colin Kramer, a quality assurance chemist and a union steward for AFGE Local 704, which represents EPA workers in the Great Lakes and Midwest area, and Kyle Stern, president of the West Suburban Teachers Union. Both spoke to the value and significance of their respective fields.
“(What’s happening) isn’t efficient,” Kramer said. “This is chaos.”
After speeches, demonstrators took off on a march through downtown Naperville. Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” played over loud speakers as they departed from Naperville Woman’s Club.
Signs still in hand, the crowd walked down Washington Street in the direction of the Naperville Riverwalk before hanging a right on Jefferson Avenue and heading towards North Central College.
Naperville resident Nora Wickman, 37, attended alongside her mother Alessandra Manca and her 7-year-old daughter.
“I do like having a voice,” Wickman said. “And I want a better future for (my daughter). I don’t want her to have things hard and awful.”
Wickman said by nature of her profession, noting she’s a historian, she knows “very well what can happen and what has happened.
“We don’t want history to repeat itself.”
The Associated Press contributed.
