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Jan 22, 17

Chicago Vs. Donald Trump

Submitted to It’s Going Down

Over the last year, Chicago has made clear that Donald Trump and his bigotry have no place in this city. The tone was first set on March 11, 2016 when thousands of Chicagoans converged on the UIC Pavilion and shut down Trump’s planned campaign stop. The event was flooded inside and out by a variety of affinity groups, organizations, NGOs, and autonomous individuals. A half hour before the event was set to begin, the Trump campaign announced it would be postponed. Donald Trump hasn’t been able to visit the city of Chicago since he began his Presidential campaign; on inauguration day, Chicago made clear that this will not be changing now that he is officially in the oval office.

Throughout the day on January 20th, people walked out of work and school to begin assembling in Daley Plaza for a march to Trump Tower. Around 4pm, people began holding space in front of Trump Tower—where crowds would remain for the rest of the evening. Throughout the night, large groups of protesters broke off from the main gathering and marched through downtown Chicago, shutting down some of the city’s biggest streets several times over the course of the evening. On two occasions, demonstrators shut down Lake Shore Drive, an eight lane expressway running along Lake Michigan. At different times over the course of the evening, multiple large marches criss-crossed the broader downtown area while hundreds more remained stationed in front of Trump Tower.

Much like the March 11th campaign rally shut down, inauguration night featured a wide array of groups coming together to stand against Trump. Again the streets were filled with anarchists, communists, socialists, disaffected democrats, and people just beginning to find their political footing. Chicagoans also made space for people to engage in a diversity of tactics: some marched while others held space, others created art and music while still more shattered the windows of a PNC Bank and tagged downtown Chicago with anti-racist messages.

The night’s energy was fueled by thousands of young people, many clearly taking the streets for the first time in their lives. Today’s high schoolers and college students remember the rise and fall of Occupy Wall Street, watched the Movement for Black Lives Matter successfully change the national conversation around policing, and most recently, bore witness to the struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. The intersectionality of their chants make clear that a “big tent” movement opposing racism and standing for immigrants’ and women’s rights is coming to fruition. The most frequent chants were simple and familiar: “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here,” “Black Lives Matter,” & most powerfully a call and response where women chanted “Our bodies, our choice,” and men responded, “Their bodies, their choice.”

As the evening wore on, however, the Chicago Police became increasingly violent. Several brutal arrests took place, and officers were seen throwing punches and laughing maniacally as they used their bikes as weapons with which to hit and trip protesters. At one point, I was picked up by my collar and thrown backwards into the handlebars of an officer’s bike simply for trying to get the name and birthdate of a young girl being arrested. Many of the officers taunted protesters throughout the night about the “big changes on the way.” It should come as no surprise that CPD’s Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Trump.

By the night’s end, sixteen people had been arrested. All but one were released directly from police custody by the next day. One protester was sent to bond court and required to pay $1,600 on two misdemeanor cases or sit in jail awaiting trial. He was freed from Cook County Jail on Sunday, January 22nd after the Chicago Community Bond Fund posted his bond.  

As we prepare to fight back and defend ourselves against Trump and the fascist forces he’s emboldened, I am taking comfort in the strength and diversity of our movement. We are many! From coast to coast and across the sea, millions of people took the streets this weekend to reject Trump’s bigotry. Donald Trump has picked the wrong fight, and our movements are going to make the next four years hell for him and his administration. Grab hold of the people you love and get ready to fight like hell! I believe that, together, we will win.

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This submission came to It's Going Down anonymously through itsgoingdown.org/contribute. IGD is not the author nor are we responsible for the post content.

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