St. Charles Hands Off!! rally targets Trump policies, Musk’s actions

Thousands of people lined Illinois Route 64 at Fieldgate Drive in St. Charles on Saturday for an Enough!! Hands Off!! rally against President Donald Trump’s policies and the actions of billionaire Elon Musk.

It would be the fifth public anti-Trump and Musk rally in Kane County since March 8.

Signs and banners proclaimed concerns, such as “Real Americans respect the Constitution,” “Tax the rich,” “Hands off our judges” and simply: “Defend democracy.”

They stood in the bright sunshine and brisk breeze of a cool spring day while a cacophony of car horns beeped and blasted their support as they passed by.

Deatrice Childs of Aurora held a sign stating, “We stand for your liberty, our rights.”

“I am here to express my concern with what’s happening with our country,” Child said.

Ed , who would not give his last name, carried a sign stating simply, “No Kings.”

“I am upset because I feel like the president is ruling by executive orders – which aren’t even laws – but they’re being accepted as such,” Ed said. “The cabinet meeting that they broadcasted this week looked like an episode of ‘The Apprentice.’ They all lined up to sing his praises. I feel like people aren’t seeing what’s happening, so people have to get out and mobilize.”

“The Apprentice” was a reality TV series starring Donald Trump from 2004 to 2017.

Ed criticized Congress, as well, for not countering bad legislation.

“Yesterday, the House Republicans refused to comment against an amendment on a bill that would allow them to deport U.S. citizens,” Ed said. “They literally just sat there, silently. It’s crazy.”

Ed said his brother and sister both had Huntington’s disease, lived in nursing homes and relied on government assistance for their survival until they died.

“That social safety net is so important and it’s being ripped away, and I’m afraid for the world my kids are going to grow up in, God forbid, they need help,” Ed said.

Rosane Menconi and James Norman of West Chicago stood together with their sign, proclaiming “Social Security paid in for 57 years!!”

“We’re protesting the current administration and all the rules and things that they’ve done without ... going through proper channels,” Menconi said. “They’ve ignored majority rule by the Supreme Court to bring the guy home and they ... figure we’re just going to go along with it.”

“The guy” she was referring to is Kilmar Ábrego García, who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March. Judges, including all nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled that this was done in error, and that Trump’s team should help “facilitate” his return.

Children also protested, including St. Charles residents Amber Diepenbrock and Max Cullom, 13; Q Eddy, 14; Brynn Hockey, a third grader at Fearn Elementary School in North Aurora; and Alex Polk and Arlo Cullom, second graders at Munhall Elementary School in St. Charles.

“I’m here because something needs to be said,” Amber said. “It’s not OK to just stay quiet about this. This is not OK.”

Max and Q said they were standing up for the LGBTQ community.

“And I’m also here because I believe that our democracy is under fire directly by Trump and Elon Musk,” Q said. “And I believe that something has to be done about it.”

May rallygoers chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Trump and Musk have got to go.”

Perhaps as a sign of protests to come, the rallygoers also sang along with “We Shall Not Be Moved,” a hymn that became an anthem for Civil Rights and labor, as it played from a portable speaker.

“We shall not, we shall not be moved,” they sang. “We shall not, we shall not be moved. Just like a tree that’s planted by the water, we shall not be moved.”

Rally organizers were We Can Lead Change Fox Valley, Indivisible Fox Valley Rising, Fox Valley Activists, Kane County, Batavia and St. Charles townships, and Western Kane Democrats.