The No Kings Chicago Protest was super chill tbh

I went to the No Kings Chicago Protest yesterday. This is how went.

1. Wow, they have porta potties!

2. People are handing out free water masks and know your rights cards!

3. Someone’s giving out free earplugs! How nice of them.

4. Honestly, the protest is super chill so far. People have brought their kids and their dogs, elderly people and people in wheelchairs are out holding signs, people are chatting left and right and the mood is joyful and uplifting.

   • The only potential problem is the risk of a crowd crush, but hopefully nothing bad happens.

5. Someone’s blowing bubbles into the protest. I talk to him, he gives me three tiny bubble maker thingies, and tells me to “pass’ em out :)”.

   • I thank him and give two back.

6. Someone is waving the Star Wars rebel flag around. Nice.

7. Some guy is wearing a shirt that says something like “Jesus is my king, Trump is my president”. He has a megaphone. I can’t tell what he’s saying but everyone is ignoring him so it probably sucks. Oh well.

   • Actually, he’s being pretty polite too. I think he’s just trying to save us from going to hell. How nice of him.

8. The police are super chill too! a lot of people are having very cute interactions with them, thanking them and taking selfies and various other shenanigans.

   • Two friends are here from a wedding! One female officer is clearly trying to set the pair up.

9. I talk to the police officer. She says they are expecting about 20,000 people, but they aren’t expecting trouble. There are probably way more than 20,000 people here, though. “These people are good; incidents are just caused by a small group,” she says. We chat for a bit more and then I leave.

   • Every time people talk to them, it becomes even more obvious that the cops are just here to hang out and give people directions and make sure nothing violent happens. They all have name tags on and no face coverings, unlike some prior protest experiences I’ve had in which the police were fully covered, unidentifiable, and obviously ready to enforce the state-mandated monopoly on violence. These ones pass the vibe check. Also, they’re all on bikes, which is funny.

10. Two guys show up dressed as tanks.

    

    I would normally be much more cautious about showing people’s faces, but that van in the back is a news van and there are cameras all rounded pointed at the tank guys. A little too late for anonymity, methinks.

11. Megaphone guy is still here. People are trying to drown him out, heckling him and yelling at him. I wait for them to be done and then I ask him if I can ask him a few questions.

    • It sounds like he believes none of us have read the Bible. A couple of us explain that we were former Christians, which he summarily ignores. Apparently we’re being controlled by Satan. Oh, and the LA protests were the work of Satan too.

12. I ask him if he’s heard of USAID. He hasn’t. I tell him about the hundreds of thousands dying in Africa, and he reflexively calls it lies. He says that Israel never bombed children and blames Hamas for everything. I tell him that I think both are bad, which he sorta half concedes. I ask him if he’s seen Trump tower and compare it to the Tower of Babel.

13. While I’m chatting with him, someone who was yelling at him comes up to apologize (“I’m sorry for raising my voice at you, I just really think that Jesus wouldn’t approve of what you’re doing”). The mood becomes more civil and people mostly stop heckling him while we’re talking, which is nice. One person asks us if we think we’re misguided. I hurriedly defend myself (“I’m not with him!”) which is maybe a mistake. Oops.

    • He walks away after I talk to him for long enough. The last time I see him he is…singing? I yell at him as he goes (“Your heart’s in the right place!!”) and I hope I’ve humanized us a bit in his eyes. Probably not.

14. An hour and a half later, I leave to join my family for lunch.

    • The police have closed off the bridges and roads, presumably to prevent murder by car—someone driving through the protest would be extremely bad. This makes

15. All in all, 10/10 would protest again.

Takeaways:

• There were a lot of people there. This is one of the main advantages of nonviolent protest: allowing those who are incapable of violence (children, elderly, disabled people) and those who simply dislike danger/violence (me, fence-sitters) to join and participate. Morals aside, nonviolence is strategically quite nice.

• The best way to prevent excessive police brutality is to humanize both the police and the protestors. Those police were really hoping that they did not have to hurt anyone, and you could tell. They were there to protect us, and the protestors were respectful towards them in turn.

• If you want to go to a protest but are anxious about your safety and/or are on the fence, I think you should just go! I was apprehensive coming in, but there was no danger at all and I also realized that I could leave any time I wanted. Nothing wrong with showing up early to scope it out, showing up late once you know it’s safe, showing up for just 10 minutes because that’s all you’re comfortable with, or any other option you’re considering.

Now go forth and exercise your right to assemble peacefully!