TechNews

Steven Milan Moreno
TECHNEWS WRITER

Donald John Trump, the 45th
President of the United States, was sworn into
office on Friday, January 20, much to the anger,
frustration, and worry of many Americans
across the country. Ihe city of Chicago was
no exception to this. Shortly after the end of
the swearing in, Chicagoans bundled up and
began to organize and gather in the heart of
the city to have their anger and frustration
voiced for the entire world, and hopefully the
commander in chief, to hear. At 3 p.m., the
protests officially began with a two-hour rally
at the Daley Center, which is surrounded by
numerous city, county, and state government
buildings including the city hall itself. The
crowds included several groups of students
from local high schools and colleges who had
walked out of their classes in protest of the

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Chicagoans make their voices heard in inauguration day protests

inauguration. Several political, social, and
community groups also made themselves
present at the protests including numerous
churches, political groups, and student
organizations.

Many of the people at the rally had
intentionally ignored the television coverage
of the inauguration to keep from the president
the satisfaction of high TV ratings. Even so, a
large television feed showing the inauguration
day parade and celebrations was set up across
the street from the Dally Center to keep the
crowds informed on the events occurring in
the nation’s capital city. As the rally entered its
second hour, people noticed as the protests in
Washington DC. began to turn into full scale
rioting. With images surfacing of burning
limousines and smashed windows, protest
organizers in Chicago called for peaceful
protesting, which was the case for most of
the day. After the end of the second hour,

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the protesters began to make their way to the
Chicago riverfront from the Daley Center
to begin the second protest in front of the
president’s grand skyscraper in the city, the
Trump International Hotel.

As the sun began to set, the crowd of
protesters began to march through the streets
across the Chicago River from the base of the
tower while the police and bystanders looked
on in both astonishment and fear. In addition
to signs and banners filling the streets, music
from an orchestral band filled the air as they
played in the background. Ihe orchestra’s
musical selection included such songs as the
Imperial March from Star Wars, We Don’t
Need No Education by Pink Floyd, and the
Oompa Loompa’s song from Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory. While the early hours of
the protest at Trump International Hotel were
relatively peaceful, as the night drew on the
crowds began to collapse in size and increase

 

 

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in violent activity. Clashes between rioters
and the police began to appear throughout
downtown as they began to block off streets
and disrupt traffic on busy roads such as
Lake Shore Drive. Despite these moments
of violence and conflict, the city remained
relatively peaceful when compared to other
cities that eXperienced protesting, such as
Washington DC.

When the day came to an end,
many people in the city and around the world
were not yet ready to call it quits just yet. Ihe
Women’s March on Washington took place
the very next day along with several other
sister marches in major cities around not
just the nation, but the entire world. Of these
sister marches, Chicago was one of the largest.
With crowds surpassing a quarter of a million
people, it is obvious that the citizens of this city
are not afraid to speak and stand up for what
they believe in.

Photos by Steven Milan Moreno