Thousands attend No Kings events in Lake County
A former combat soldier and a onetime Republican who got his first job through the late Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kansas, were among more than 8,500 people in Lake County participating in No Kings events protesting the actions of President Donald Trump.
Holding a sign that read, 'fought for freedom not for a throne' was U.S. Army veteran John McCullough of Grayslake who said he spent six years in the military, including tours of duty in the first Gulf War and on the Demilitarized Zone separating South and North Korea.
'I watched a dictator from a distance,' McCullough said at a rally in Gurnee, referring to the ruler of North Korea. 'We don't need a king whose father paid for him to be a draft dodger. That's not what my brothers and sisters bled and died for.'
John Anderson of Beach Park sat in a wheelchair at the Gurnee rally wearing a shirt with the words 'Go Kemp' referring to former U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., who was Dole's running mate in 1992. Anderson said he is no longer a Republican.
'I was a Republican precinct committeeman in three states — Kansas, Minnesota and Illinois,' Anderson said. 'The Republican Party is no longer a party with a platform. They're about one person.'
Anderson and McCullough were among more than 8,500 people who participated in No Kings Day rallies Saturday in Lake Country towns Gurnee, Highland Park and Buffalo Grove as they showed their displeasure with the way Trump is governing the country.
More than 4,500 people attended the rally in Gurnee, 2,500 in Highland Park and 1,500 in Buffalo Grove, according to organizers at those locations.
Along with the three Lake County events, there were nearly 2,000 protests planned across the country Saturday from city blocks to small towns to courthouse steps and community parks. There was also a demonstration in Washington, D.C. where Trump attended a military parade.
Orchestrated by the 50501 Movement, organizers said the group picked the 'No Kings' name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Many of the approximately 4,500 participants in Gurnee—filling two blocks on Grand Avenue and one on the adjoining Hunt Club Road—held signs indicating displeasure with Trump's leadership style.
Signs read, 'No kings in America since 1776,' 'Rejecting kings since 1776,' 'Immigrants don't invade, they rebuild what history has broken' and more. There were no planned speakers but chants broke out regularly.
Katie Salyer, a Gurnee resident and one of the organizers from Northeast Lake County Indivisible—the Lake County Democratic Party was also a sponsor—was holding a megaphone leading part of the crowd.
'What does democracy look like?' Salyer asked.
'This is what democracy looks like,' the crowd responded several times in a row.
Salyer said the chants were a tool to keep the crowd active and orderly. There was also a political purpose.
'It gives the people a voice,' she said.
Barb Wigginton of Fox Lake said she was there to make a point about behavior of some of the immigration officers carrying out Trump's deportation policies. Her sign read, 'Melt ICE,' referring the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
'Everyone should be treated with respect,' she said. 'Do what you have to do, but be kind.'
Joan Zahnle was one of the Highland Park rally organizers. She said the crowd consisted of people of all ages from parents with young children to teens and older individuals. There was a dual purpose. The rally was combined with a food drive.
'We have four SUVs loaded with food going to pantries in Waukegan and North Chicago,' she said.
Carolyn Pinta, the organizer of the Buffalo Grove event, said it there was a party atmosphere with music and dancing. The first participant arrived 45 minutes before the noon starting time with her 99-year-old mother attending her first political rally.
Lake County Republican Chair Keith Brin said in an email Trump is anything but a king. He was fairly elected and is enforcing laws passed by Congress just like Democratic presidents administered them before him, Brin said.
'The President hasn't made up laws like a dictator,' Brin said in the email. 'If the protesters don't like the laws, change the laws. Instead of figuring out why the majority of the country disagrees with them, Democrats protest against an imaginary dictatorship that has been routinely checked by Congress and the courts.'
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