A local photographer and a pastor are planning what they say will be a peaceful rally and march in downtown Naperville on Saturday to coincide with thousands of other “No Kings” protests across the nation.
Organizers say they’re protesting big concepts, like what they see as President Donald Trump’s authoritarian style of governing, as well as specific issues, including immigration enforcement by federal agents, federal overreach, and cuts to essential services.
“I see a lot of social justice issues that concern me — people not getting due process; the executive branch taking over control of everything; the checks and balances of our Congress and our courts seem to be waning,” said Naperville photographer Emily Cummings, who is co-organizing the protest with Pastor Elisabeth Pynn Himmelman of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. “I’m scared about the future that our kids are growing into, and I feel that I’m privileged that I can stand up for other people.”
Protest to be ‘a resistance’ against ‘enabling President Trump’
The Naperville No Kings protest is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, starting and ending at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St. Cummings said organizers and political leaders will speak, a DJ will play songs, and organizers will lead the crowd in chants before marching a few blocks east to the Washington Street bridge.
Pynn Himmelman said the protest group will walk one lap from the Municipal Center to the bridge and back, carrying signs and rallying each other to continue what they describe as “a resistance” against Trump’s actions.
“Standing up for human dignity is what really matters,” Pynn Himmelman said.
Republican leader says protest actions are ‘just noise’
DuPage County Republican Chairman Kevin Coyne said he’s aware of the planned protest and does not intend to pay it much mind. He said people opposing Trump’s policies have held so many protests by now that they’re all “just noise.”
“It’s our impression that they’re upset with him doing something about the immigration problems that were caused when (former President Joe) Biden left our border wide open,” Coyne said. “He’s cleaning up a giant mess that he inherited from a bad administration.”
Instead of protesting, Coyne said members of his party are focused on signing up more Republicans for vote-by-mail and advocating for fair legislative maps that define districts for politicians.
“We’re trying to make positive progress, turn the state around, not keep going down the same ridiculous road that we’ve gone down in Illinois,” Coyne said.
Police preparing to ‘keeping everyone safe’
The Naperville Police Department is putting preparations in place to keep both protesters and the public safe during the No Kings demonstration, said Cmdr. Rick Krakow, public information officer.
The department has an operations plan ready for the event, has shared expectations for a lawful demonstration with organizers, and will have adequate staffing on site to create a safe environment and “protect everyone’s First Amendment rights,” Krakow said.
“Our presence there and our preparation for the event is what leads to us and the event organizers having a successful outcome in terms of keeping everyone safe during the event,” Krakow said.
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