CHICAGO (AP) — On Thursday, protests and events took place at over 1,600 locations across the United States, standing against President Donald Trump’s controversial policies, including mass deportations and cuts to essential safety nets such as Medicaid.
This national day of action, titled “Good Trouble Lives On,” serves to honor the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, who dedicated his life to social justice. Demonstrators gathered in various public spaces including streets and courthouses. Organizers are advocating for peaceful protests throughout the day.
According to Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit that focuses on curbing corporate power, the nation is facing a troubling moment in its history. Gilbert stated during an online news conference on Tuesday, “We are navigating one of the most terrifying moments in our nation’s history. We are all grappling with a rise of authoritarianism and lawlessness within our administration, as the rights, freedoms, and expectations of our very democracy are being challenged.”
Public Citizen is part of a coalition organizing the protests. Major demonstrations were set to take place in cities such as Atlanta, St. Louis, Oakland, California, and Annapolis, Maryland.
John Lewis made a significant impact during the civil rights movement, first elected to Congress in 1986. Lewis passed away in 2020 after a diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer. He was the youngest and final survivor of the prominent Big Six civil rights activists, notably led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. One of his most remembered moments was in 1965 when he led hundreds of protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, where he was brutally beaten by police, suffering a skull fracture.
In his final year, Lewis remarked, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America,” as he commemorated the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Chicago is designated as the flagship city for Thursday’s protests, with demonstrators expected to rally downtown in the afternoon. Betty Magness, executive vice president of the League of Women Voters Chicago and an organizer of the Chicago event, mentioned that the rally will also feature a candlelight vigil honoring Lewis.
Magness added that there would be a festive atmosphere at the rally, stating, “We have a DJ who’s gonna rock us with boots on the ground.”
Opposition to President Trump’s policies has intensified during his second term, particularly in relation to deportations and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
Earlier this month, protesters clashed with federal authorities while they conducted mass arrests at two Southern California marijuana farms. A tragic incident occurred when a farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic raid, highlighting the tension surrounding immigration enforcement.
These raids were preceded by President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to protect immigration agents carrying out arrests, which has sparked outrage and further protests. Since June 8, thousands took to the streets in Los Angeles to voice their dissent.
Moreover, organizers of the June 14 “No Kings” demonstrations asserted that millions of participants marched in events from New York to San Francisco, denouncing President Trump as a dictator and expressing their discontent with a military parade organized for his birthday.
Williams reported from Detroit.
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