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Tag: protest chicago

  • Venezuelan communities hold meetings in Chicago area after US captures President Maduro

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    CHICAGO (WLS) — Community meetings were planned across the Chicago area on Sunday after the U.S. military’s strikes in Venezuela and capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.

    Protesters gathered in downtown Chicago on Saturday just hours after President Donald Trump announced details of the attack. Many say they are against his decision to carry it out.

    ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

    Federal Plaza in the Loop was packed with demonstrators pushing back against the Trump administration on Saturday. They say his actions were an unnecessary act of war.

    Conversely, many Venezuelan nationals are happy to see the regime removed, but there are questions over how the operation was carried out without Congress being made aware.

    SEE ALSO | Trump’s plan to seize and revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry faces major hurdles

    Some demonstrators want the Trump administration to be focused on issues unfolding in the United States. Others ABC7 spoke with say this attack on Venezuela reminds them of previous U.S. involvement in international conflict.

    Trump says the U.S. is going to run Venezuela in the interim until a transition can happen.

    Maduro is currently being held in a Brooklyn, New York, detention center and faces drug and weapons charges. Venezuela’s vice president, meanwhile, addressed the country on state television after the attack, calling for Maduro’s release.

    Sunday afternoon’s community meetings are expected to take place in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood and in north suburban Schaumburg.

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    Christian Piekos

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  • Thousands expected to gather for ‘No Kings’ protest in downtown Chicago Saturday

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    CHICAGO (WLS) — “No Kings” organizers are expecting tens of thousands of people from the suburbs and city neighborhoods to participate in a peaceful protest Saturday beginning at Butler Field in Chicago’s Grant Park.

    Chicago is one of dozens of cities nationwide holding “No Kings” protests Saturday.

    ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

    It comes as protesters have gathered near the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility for weeks, calling for a change in immigration enforcement.

    Because of recent ICE arrests in the Chicago area, organizers are expecting a much bigger crowd than the previous “No Kings” rally held in June.

    After a two-hour program beginning at noon in Grant Park on Saturday, protesters will then march through downtown. The Chicago Police Department says it will have extra resources throughout the Loop.

    Red paint, white poster board and a final stroke, “Democracy dies in silence” is the phrase protester Alex Saucedo is using for his hand made sign for Chicago’s “No Kings” protest.

    “We want to make sure that we’re drawing attention to the cause of making sure that ICE fully aware that we don’t need them here,” Saucedo said. “They’re not welcome in Chicago.”

    Planning to attend Saturday’s protest, Saucedo and his wife came to this Brighton Park Art Studio to make signs today. ..With the help of his friend musician Samantha Rose, Mural Artist Holiday Gerry opened his studio up today to the public…They provided free supplies to make No Kings signs….

    “A lot of people are talking about it, and people are really going to be showing up,” said Holiday Gerry with Holiday Studios. “And I wanted to extend this community space for people to get to know each other.”

    RELATED | What to know about ‘No Kings’ protests around US

    “Authoritarianism wins when we decide we’re too scared to show up and defend our Constitution and our fundamental rights,” Personal PAC CEO and protest organizer Sarah Garza Resnick said. “It is going to be peaceful tomorrow. We are peaceful people who just believe in standing up for what is right.”

    Garza Resnick’s organization Personal PAC is one of several organizations behind Chicago’s “No Kings” event. President Donald Trump and his administration have painted protest participants as left wing violent radical groups who are getting paid.

    “This is their tactic,” Garza Resnick said. “Nobody is getting paid out there. I’m a mom.”

    Promising a peaceful event, Resnick expects people from all walks of life to participate.

    Armed with a speaker and bullhorn, Samantha Rose says the protest will be a family affair. She is bringing her dad and her friends are bringing their kids. Rose does not view it as a partisan event.

    “The political party is Americans for America, speaking up and using our right freedom of speech,” Rose said. “That’s what being American is.”

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