Thousands protest Trump visit
Whistleblowers, marchers try to disrupt political fundraiser at Trump Tower in Chicago
Protesters march past Trump Tower in Chicago on Monday after attempting to disrupt a political fundraiser there held by President Trump. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
CHICAGO — President Trump got a warm reception from police chiefs at a Chicago convention Monday, but then faced thousands of protesters as he attended a political fundraiser at his own Trump International Hotel and Tower.
Marj Halperin, lead event organizer of Indivisible Chicago Alliance, said 10,000 people showed up across the Chicago River from Trump Tower in an attempt to disrupt the fundraiser by blowing whistles, banging drums, and chanting slogans.
“We’ve made it clear that Trump isn’t welcome in our city — or in the White House,” Halperin said. “He didn’t make the time to meet with and listen to the thousands of people whose lives are shattered by his pro-gun policies every year. He ignored the hundreds of thousands he deprives of critical federal funding for education, housing, access to food, and even the very right to be counted in the U.S. Census in order to be allocated critical federal funds for the next 10 years. This is why we say Trump is NOT welcome in our city or in our White House.”
Jamacyn Rheude of downtown Chicago said she was out with her son to protest “everything that’s going on that breaks my heart for our kids. How this is going to affect their future. And how we have this person who is supposed to be a model for our children, or my high-schooler, and his abuse of everything is not what I want as a model.”
“As the president, he affects everyone around you,” said her son Felix Rheude. “And he hasn’t been doing a very good job of it. He’s also affecting me, too.”
Dion Bass, of Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, came downtown to protest Monday with his two sons — both out of school with the ongoing Chicago Teachers Union strike against Chicago Public Schools. Bass too said he was concerned about Trump’s effect on his sons and their future.
“The president is dictating rhetoric of hate,” Bass said. “And it is dangerous for the upbringing of two African-American males and the United States. Hatred is not going to help them out.”
Melissa Vozar protests with fellow striking members of the Chicago Teachers Union, saying, “As much as we want a fair contract, we don’t want Trump as our president, either.”
Melissa Vozar, a striking teacher at Suder Montessori Magnet Elementary School, took time out from picketing to join some fellow teachers in protesting against the president’s visit. “We are also against Trump as well,” she said. “As much as we want a fair contract, we don’t want Trump as our president, either.”
Vozar took issue with Trump’s attacks on Chicago’s gun laws and its status as a sanctuary city welcoming immigrants. “That’s not valid at all,” she said. “We have a great city. That’s what we’re here fighting for, for the children of our city.”
Halperin pointed to the wide range of Trump positions and policies drawing flak among protesters, from gun control to reproductive rights to immigration to his conduct as president to the Mueller report to the Ukraine scandal and well beyond. “While impeachment is the focus of the Indivisible protesters,” she said, “we have partnered with dozens of organizations and understand that co-sponsors have their own reasons for protesting Trump’s policies, and we support and respect each of them.”
According to a pool news report, Trump was already set to take in $4 million for his reelection campaign war chest just on advance commitments to attend his fundraiser before the protest across the river even took place.