Sep 6

Sep 6 Naval Base Great Lakes

Chicago, Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations

Arising this morning, I knew where I would be at 5:00 PM. Congress Plaza at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive for a demonstration opposing Donald J. Trump’s plans to deploy additional ICE agents, the National Guard, and military troops on Chicago’s streets, just as he did in Los Angeles and is doing now in Washington, D.C.

The bigger question: Where would I be at noon today? I could head to Pilsen for the annual Mexican Independence Day Parade. With thousands of people gathered along 18th Street, imagine what would happen if the Trump Administration staged another immigration raid on the scale that occurred this past Thursday in Georgia at a Hyundai Motors battery plant. Nearly 500 people were arrested, most being South Korean nationals who were in the United States illegally. White House Border Czar Tom Homan’s stunt may have driven arrests up for the week but it also created a major diplomatic snafu with a longstanding ally.

I vehemently oppose Trump’s immigration policies, but as a photographer, I the relish the opportunity to capture perp walks, scuffles with police, flash bangs exploding, and people being loaded into transport wagons. Some holier-than-thou photographers will condemn my zeal, but let’s be honest: I’ve been in the middle of those sorts of skirmish. I worry more about taking an elbow from a another photographer than the police. The photags push and shove trying to gain position as close to the action as possible. Sure most claim they are documenting history, but introduce a little blood into the equation, well so much the better as long as it isn’t your own blood.

Instead of heading to Pilsen, I could go to Waukegan—birthplace of Jack Benny and Ray Bradbury—where a demonstration was planned in a field across from Naval Base Great Lakes, the site that Trump plans to use to house the troops that will occupy the streets of Chicago and conduct raids to meet his 3,000-person daily arrest quota.

Tough choice. I opted for Naval Base Great Lakes. After all, next Saturday, Little Village will hold its annual Mexican Independence Day parade, so there will be another opportunity to photograph mass arrests should they occur. This evening, I learned the Pilsen crowds were noticeably down for today’s parade. There was no reported ICE activity, but I would not be surprised to learn that there were undercover ICE agents in the crowd conducting surveillance operations.

After making the 90-minute trek from Chicago to Waukegan and the 2-hour return trek, I know one thing for sure: I will not be covering another demonstration near Naval Base Great Lakes. I wanted to cover today’s demonstration because it marked yet another chapter in the tales of Trump—an important one. The Naval Base personifies another norm (and law) broken by Trump: Historically, the United States does not use the military for domestic policing, but Trump wants to change that, even asking former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” Trump was referring to the protesters who had taken to the streets of Washington, D.C. following the murder of George Floyd during Trump’s first term.

Fortunately, the drive to Waukegan wasn’t too bad. Traffic was light and WXRT’s Saturday Morning Flashback show featured music from 1973. Rick Derringer’s Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo; the Rolling Stone’s Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo (Heartbreaker); Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door; T-Rex’s Twentieth Century Man; and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. When teh rotation included a song I didn’t like, NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell was just a button punch down the digital dial.

As I approached the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd and Sheridan Road, a wave of irritation engulfed my being: Not a single person was visible. Second guessing myself, I thought, “I should have gone to Pilsen.” I was 20 minutes early, so I decided to stay. I then drove eight blocks west to find a space where I could park without receiving a ticket.

Walking to the designated area, I noticed 20 or 30 people now lining the roadway. More importantly, I noticed an unlocked porta-potty on the westside of the field. With no retailers or a McDonald’s nearby, it could prove useful despite the two plastic syringes that I would later discover—one just outside the door and one inside. Fortunately, my needs at the time didn’t require me to sit. Maybe Trump did the right thing last when he blew up a boat carrying 11 people in the Caribbean Sea this past Tuesday, but probably not because the people on the board—alleged drug traffickers who were members of Tren de Aragua—were in international waters and had never been tried for their alleged offenses. Were they even narcos?

Over the next 30 to 40 minutes, the crowd grew. The media has since reported that in total “several dozen” people took part. I would put the number at 100, maybe 125. Like me, some had come from Chicago, but I spoke with three women—an 84-year-old grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter—who described themselves as locals (except the granddaughter who fessed up to being from Wisconsin). They told me that many people in the crowd were locals.

Those lining the street had one objective: To get passing motorists to honk in support of the demonstrators and their cause. The effort was surprisingly successful, at least as measured by other demonstrations that I have covered where the demonstrators made similar efforts. Today, those driving by apparently shared the views held by the demonstrators.

Ominously, at one point, a drone hovered over the crowd. I asked one of the marshals if it belonged to the organizers. Nope, according to the marshal, it came from the base. While that certainly is plausible, it is also the most sensational explanation. But if Trump’s military was controlling the drone, well, I guess my image is in still another government database.

As for the Waukegan police officers who handled traffic control, they exhibited the exact same attitude that the Chicago Police Department displays. Immediately before the event began, the two officers introduced themselves to the organizers, and then offered their assistance. The police were friendly and helpful, but remained largely in the background, except when directing traffic and closing streets for the march.

After about 45 minutes, the organizers asked the demonstrators to gather around some sort of utility electrical block. Five or six people then delivered speeches. Absolutely no new ground was covered, but what is a demonstration without speeches?

Following the speeches, the group filed into the street, beginning the march to the naval base’s main gate, about three-quarters of a mile to the south. No surprise. When everyone was in place, more speakers spoke, including someone from Indivisible Chicago. After 30 or 40 minutes, everyone reversed course, heading back to the start. This time, they exited Sheridan Road using a circular exit lane that took them along an underpass.

I needed to be back for the 5:00 PM rally, so I headed to my car. As I was walking west on Martin Luther King Boulevard, I encountered the demonstrators heading back to the starting point. Several stopped at that porta-potty, but when I looked back, most were gathered in the field.

I am glad I made the journey, but I won’t do it again. On a Saturday afternoon, the traffic heading into the city is horrendous. Gridlock everywhere. People from the suburbs are headed downtown for dinner, theater, concerts, and this weekend, Taste of Chicago. I also ran into Cubs traffic.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]