{"id":40730,"date":"2026-03-29T04:10:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T04:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/40730\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T04:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T04:10:06","slug":"anti-trump-fury-grows-as-thousands-swell-local-no-kings-rallies-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/40730\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Trump fury grows as thousands swell local No Kings rallies \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands attended No Kings rallies Saturday in South Elgin and Elgin, vilifying President Donald Trump as part of a national day of protest.<\/p>\n

On Randall and Silver Glen roads in South Elgin, a crowd gathered on the overhead bridge and posted the message: \u201cNo kings. No jesters. No child molesters\u201d while they filled the roadside for more than a mile north.<\/p>\n

At Kimball Street and Grove Avenue in Elgin, thousands packed both sides of the street. They put a giant inflatable rat in the median parkway that wore Trump\u2019s trademark red tie, lest anyone miss the point of the source of their discontent.<\/p>\n

\"Gretchen<\/p>\n

Gretchen Goldsworthy of Geneva carries her sign to the No Kings rally at Silver Glen and Randall roads in South Elgin on Saturday, March 28. (Brenda Schory)<\/p>\n

A chant leader stood on a bench and used a bullhorn for call and response: \u201cShow \u2018em what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like\u201d and \u201cLove, not hate, that\u2019s what make America great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another man carried a sign back and forth by the rat that read, \u201cHe\u2019s a rapist,\u201d a reference to sexual misconduct allegations against the president.<\/p>\n

Passing cars and trucks beeped, honked and yelled out their approval, also with arms extended for thumb\u2019s up gestures at both locations.<\/p>\n

The No Kings rallygoers\u2019 reasons echoed their concern for the country under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\"Geneva<\/p>\n

Geneva residents Jason and Kelly Watson attend the No Kings rally Saturday, March 28, at Silver Glen and Randall roads in South Elgin. This and other rallies were coordinated across the U.S. to protest President Trump and his administration. (Brenda Schory)<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because I would like \u2013 in some way \u2013 to make a difference,\u201d said Gretchen Goldsworthy of Geneva. \u201cThere needs to be a change. And if coming here or doing one little thing to make a difference – that\u2019s why I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For three friends from North Aurora \u2013 Marianne Battista, Linda Parlay and Susan \u2013 public protest is the only avenue to be heard and seek change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here to protest for our country,\u201d Battista said. \u201cWe need to remove Donald Trump from office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paslay added, \u201cI\u2019m here to make a difference. To be here with all these other people making history. This is only way to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan, who would not give her last name, said she was there \u201cbecause we need to show that democracy is not lost and we need to stand together like our parents did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Batavia<\/a> residents Rudy and Carol \u2013 who did not want to give their last names \u2013 said they wanted to be in solidarity with everyone else there.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters at the No Kings rally Saturday, March 28, at Silver Glen and Randall roads in South Elgin. This and other rallies were coordinated across the U.S. against President Trump and his administration. (Photo provided by We Can Lead Change)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy button says, \u2018Enough,\u2019\u201d Carol said.<\/p>\n

The couple wore knitted red hats known as Melt the ICE Hats from Needle & Skein<\/a> in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause in World War II in Norway, they started wearing red hats in protest of the Nazis that had occupied Norway,\u201d Carol said. \u201cThe Nazis outlawed red hats, and everybody who wore red hats went to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to its website, Needle & Skein reported that as of March 5, its Melt the Ice Hat patterns at $5 each raised more than $705,000 in for community distribution in the Twin Cities, including for immigrant assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I care about our liberties,\u201d said Cathy Nails of Campton Hills<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m here because I think we all need to stand up. I think we need to make good trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geneva<\/a> resident Jason Watson wore his protest as Trump himself: A giant cutout of Trump\u2019s face over his own face, a trademark dark jacket, white shirt and red tie. <\/p>\n

\"Campton<\/p>\n

Campton Hills resident Cathy Nails is seen on her way to the No Kings rally Saturday, March 28, at Silver Glen and Randall roads in South Elgin. This and other rallies were coordinated across the U.S. to protest President Trump and his administration. (Brenda Schory)<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s where the similarities ended. <\/p>\n

Watson\u2019s Trump face also sported Adolf Hitler\u2019s mustache. <\/p>\n

Despite the breeze amid a 35-degree temperature, Watson\u2019s legs were bare. <\/p>\n

To further ridicule Trump, instead of pants, Watson wore a mock-up of a fully loaded adult diaper with fake feces smeared on the backs of his thighs.<\/p>\n

His wife, Kelly Watson, carried a sign to complete the Hitler inference: \u201cThey want 1939 Germany. They\u2019ll get 1789 France.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"No<\/p>\n

No Kings rallygoers packed the side of Randall Road from Silver Glen north at a rally Saturday, March 28. This and other rallies were coordinated across the U.S. to protest President Trump and his administration. (Photo provided by We Can Lead Change)<\/p>\n

The year 1939 refers to the rise of the Nazism in Germany and 1789 refers to the year French peasants stormed the Bastille prison, during the French Revolution..<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I\u2019ve had enough of President Trump and his cronies running our country like a gestapo,\u201d Jason Watson said. \u201cI want to see better leadership from our government. I want to see accountability again. And especially I want to see our immigrant neighbors left alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Watson said she was there for the same reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really tired of President Trump and his administration taking advantage of all of us \u2013 every one of us,\u201d Kelly Watson said. ” Jason was in the military \u2013 the Air Force \u2013 and as a military wife, my heart goes out to people being deployed to Iran. And it\u2019s a war that never should have been started.”<\/p>\n

We Can Lead Change, Indivisible Fox Valley Rising and Visibility Brigade organized the South Elgin rally. Volunteers organized the Elgin rally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands attended No Kings rallies Saturday in South Elgin and Elgin, vilifying President Donald Trump as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[23688,65,898,69,5343,1981,23687],"class_list":["post-40730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-elgin","tag-geneva","tag-kane-county","tag-politics","tag-protest","tag-shaw-local-front-headlines","tag-south-elgin"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116310508990621843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}