Cheers, chants, songs and speeches echoed across downtown Evanston as protesters carrying home-made signs and waving American flags gathered for Evanston’s “No Kings” protest Saturday. The demonstration, held at Fountain Square, boasted 5,000 protesters, according to organizers. It was one of over 2,500 rallies across the country protesting President Donald Trump and his policies.
The protest, hosted by Indivisible Evanston, gave locals a platform to voice their concerns on issues ranging from immigration to equality. The Democratic Party of Evanston and the Evanston/North Shore branch of the NAACP also helped organize the event.
“There’s comfort in the company of others who are objecting to this,” said Candace Davis, a member of Indivisible Evanston’s leadership team. “It’s good to know that other people feel the same way.”
Among those in attendance, Jim Wheaton has been protesting for change since the 1960s.
While demonstrating against the Vietnam War, Wheaton realized that progress was only achievable through the advocacy and civic engagement mirrored by the No Kings rallies, he said.
“Everybody says somebody should do something, and you realize you’re the somebody,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”
Rogers Park resident Victor Ribadeneyra said the U.S. is heading down a concerning direction. He was protesting to help ensure “we stay on a good path,” he said.
Speaker and event organizer Michael Nabors — president of the Evanston NAACP — echoed Ribadeneyra’s sentiment. He said the difference between this fall and last spring’s No Kings protest is rooted in urgency.
“Across the landscape of our nation, there is a malevolent evil accosting, attacking, attempting to tear down and destroy the civil rights of our people,” Nabors said.
Federal immigration activity takes center stage
The recent uptick in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity brought immigration to the forefront of the demonstration. On Oct. 12, ICE took multiple people near the intersection of Dodge Avenue and Oakton Street, and agents detained an individual at the same intersection Thursday.
“This whole community is outraged and sickened by the grotesque attacks that are terrorizing our neighborhoods,” Mayor Daniel Biss said to The Daily. “People are rising up together. We are going to get through this by having a mass public resistance, and today is a part of it.”
Biss also emphasized the importance of local government acting in concert with community values. Last Monday, City Council unanimously passed a resolution to immediately implement “ICE-free zones,” banning federal immigration agents from conducting operations on city-owned property. The resolution was directly modeled after a Chicago policy passed earlier in the month.
Executive Director of Evanston Latinos Ricardo Villalobos knows the impacts of such immigration activity firsthand — his father was deported in the 1980s, he said speaking to the crowd. Noting how deeply the separation affected his entire family, Villalobos called on the community to rally behind their immigrant neighbors.
“We fought through it, we worked, we studied, we were part of this beautiful community, and we cared deeply about what happened to our neighbors,” Villalobos said. “I ask you now to please, use your privilege, your voice, to help us fight this thing that is happening in our country.”
Community solidarity drives protesters
Protesting remains dangerous for those most impacted by federal immigration activity. Evanston resident and first-generation American Jo Ann Flores-Deter said she was determined to show up on behalf of her community.
“Being first-generation American, and my parents being immigrants to this country, there’s a huge privilege that I have,” Flores-Deter said. “I’m here, really, for all of the Latino community, not just here, but throughout Illinois, who (are) scared, who feel trapped, who are hiding in their homes.”
For Flores-Deter, seeing community members of all ages and backgrounds with a similar goal was “cathartic,” she said.
Betsy Warren, a senior at Loyola University Chicago, also underscored the importance of fighting back for those who cannot.
“To get to our neighbors, they have to go through us,” Warren said. “We still have the voice, and we still have the power to stand up and show that we’re not just gonna sit down and take it like they want us to. We have to, now more than ever, be there for each other.”
Civil rights, healthcare issues as priorities
Fourth-year mechanical engineering Ph.D candidate Rohan Kota spoke at the protest about his family’s personal struggles with health care. He warned that millions of Americans are at risk of losing their insurance if Republicans don’t extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits.
Kota later reaffirmed the importance of civic engagement and rebuked members of the Republican Party’s characterization of Saturday’s nationwide No Kings protests.
“The Republicans are trying to brand today’s events as un-American,” Kota said. “Look out at the sea of thousands of people coming together to stand up and speak out against their government. I cannot think of anything more American than this.”
Vanessa Carmichael, who recently moved to Evanston, was born into a family of civil rights activists. Taking inspiration from her mother’s activism, Carmichael said every so often, “America just has to stand up.”
Morton Grove resident Beth Noparstak Lanners has been protesting her whole life, particularly for women’s rights. She said she is “afraid for 2026,” worrying the issue she has fought for will only become more “political.”
Despite concerns about the future, Nabors believes progress is possible. When looking at his ancestors’ historical victories over slavery and Jim Crow laws, he believes the challenges facing 21st-century America can also be overcome.
Nabors ended by stressing that both Chicago and Evanston can be a strong force of resistance against the current presidential administration.
Pointing to the crowd packing Fountain Square, he exclaimed, “Evanston, you are somebody!”
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