Above photo: Chicago protest demands no deployment of troops.
Chicago, IL – On September 6, 8000 Chicagoans rallied and marched downtown to demand that no federal troops be deployed in the city.
The demonstration, led by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) in partnership with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), showed broad opposition to the incoming illegal military occupation and made clear that Chicagoans are not afraid to exercise their democratic right to resist.
NOW: “Donald Trump you racist cow” Hundreds chant in Chicago as they march downtown against ICE and Possible deployment of National Guard pic.twitter.com/DVSKhV5jhl
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) September 6, 2025
No Trump, no troops
“The Trump administration has been escalating their illegal attacks on the city,” said Veronica Castro, ICIRR’s deputy director.
Castro described recent incidents of ICE activity, emboldened by the incoming federal forces, including masked agents targeting the domestic violence courthouse for arrests.
“We saw just this morning they chased someone down at a supermarket while they were out shopping with their family,” Castro said. “But we aren’t here to just name what is happening, we are here to show what we are going to do about it!”
”We need to make that criminal in the White House hear us,” said Kobi Guillory of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). “We need to make those terrorists, those criminals, those troops, who are here to harass and arrest our Black and brown babies, we need to shake their boots, until they get the fuck out of this city!”
Guillory continued, “Right now, when there are troops coming to attack our Black and brown children, we have to fight. We have to stand up together, and we have to fight. Because we cannot hide our heads in the sand, we can’t hide from this situation. We have to stand up, and fight back!”
Nazek Sankari, representing the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), stated, ”These racists are at it again, coming here to Chicago, in an attempt to punish one of the U.S.’s most progressive cities with one of the most progressive mayors, who emerged from the fighting CTU [Chicago Teachers Union] and the people’s movement,” Sankari said.
Sankari continued, “Our communities, organizations, big institutions, union and workers, immigrants and Black Liberation leaders all refuse to bow down to their white supremacist agenda! We will continue fighting for our neighbors, and our communities!”
After the rally, protesters marched north on Michigan Avenue, chanting “Chicago isn’t licking boots, no Trump no troops!, “All power to the people, no human is illegal!” and “Donald Trump you racist clown, troops ain’t welcomed in this town!” The protesters passed various federal buildings and the Trump Tower, making themselves visible and loud.
Fight Trump’s escalating attacks against working and oppressed people
That same day in the morning, Trump had tweeted out an AI image of himself in front of a burning Chicago, writing, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
The picture used imagery of the 1979 film, Apocalypse Now, a film set in the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. The image also has Trump wearing a Confederate hat. Trump is open about his racist agenda. He has openly declared war on the working and oppressed peoples of Chicago.
Yet as the attacks from the ruling class are escalating, the progressive Brandon Johnson administration continues to take a fighting stance against Trump. Johnson signed an executive order barring the Chicago Police Department from working with ICE or federal troops and has called on Chicagoans to take to the streets to protest what is an illegal military occupation.
On the ground, the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) is organizing and mobilizing thousands of people to build the broadest possible unity against Trump. The coalition needs you: join the resistance! Join CATA and stay up to date for mobilizations at https://www.coalitionagainsttrumpagenda.org/
