Over 3,000 people lined both sides of LaGrange Road in Orland Park on Saturday, from the Subway to the Portillo’s near Orland Square mall, as south suburban residents gathered for one of more than 2,000 “No Kings” rallies nationwide.
The rally drew residents from suburbs including Tinley Park, Matteson, Frankfort and Oak Forest, more than doubling the turnout from the June No Kings rally in Orland Park, with noticeably louder energy, organizers said. This time, the rally also focused more on the presence of the National Guard and federal immigration officers in the area.
South Suburban Relentless, the group that organized the rally as part of the national Indivisible movement, organizes biweekly protests along LaGrange Road, typically drawing 200–300 people.
The group also brought bunches of small American flags to hand out at the rally Saturday in response to politicians and pundits who have termed the No Kings gatherings “hate America” rallies.
Several protesters called the Orland Park protest joyous and said they valued gathering with their neighbors and representing suburban voices, instead of attending the larger rally in downtown Chicago. No Kings rallies were also held in Homewood and Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood.
Jordan Centers, a Tinley Park resident and school nurse who set up a safety station along LaGrange Road Saturday, said the rally meant a lot to her because the community felt quiet during last November’s presidential election.
She, along with her coworker Barb Stillwell, said they felt nervous about retribution or judgment from their own community if they voiced opinions that differed from those indicated by Trump signs and bumper stickers they saw in their Tinley Park neighborhoods.
So, to them, the thousands of mostly suburban residents dancing, chanting, wearing blow up costumes, having conversations with each other, with music and four lanes of car horns in the background, felt especially loud.
Protestors ranged from grade school students to retired residents who recalled protesting in the 1960s, to groups of veterans protesting for the first time.
“This is so important because we are able to stand up together with the community,” Centers said.
Antoinette Lewis, a longtime Matteson resident and an Army veteran, said she attended the Orland Park rally because she felt she could trust the people around her as neighbors.
She also said the rally was the closest one to her.
In fact, according to the No Kings movement website, the Orland Park rally was one of two rallies in the south suburbs. A rally was held in Homer Glen and another in Homewood, leaving a gap in rallies on the movement’s map across south suburbs such as Frankfort, Chicago Heights, Park Forest, Tinley Park, Harvey, Dolton and Blue Island.
Over a dozen rallies were held in the north Chicago suburbs and almost 10 in the west suburbs.
Lewis said there are a lot of vulnerable communities in the south suburbs that are scared of interacting with federal immigration officers and law enforcement.
“We want to be loud about it, but we can’t necessarily throw ourselves into the fire,” Lewis said. “So right now there’s a gap in us being able to feel safe standing up, and that’s why I feel safe coming here.”
More Top Picks Best Electric Pole Saws
Multiple protesters said there was an increased fear and intensity leading up to this protest, compared to the one in June. But this intensity brought out some new passionate protestors.
Jill Tobin, a Palos Township resident, said Saturday she’s always been involved in politics, dating back to participating in protests during the ’60s, but said she is the most politically active she has ever been recently due to the actions by the federal administration.
She said she now has a T-shirt that says she’s been through the ’60s twice, during the original era and now again in 2025.
Her friend Jakie Myers, also a Palos area resident, said she saw a lot more young people at Saturday’s rally. She said the suburban rallies have mostly marshalled retired residents of her age group, who also protested decades ago.
“I love to see people that are not my hair color out here,” Myers said.
Myers said administrative actions such as invoking the National Guard in American cities and the treatment of protesters and citizens, along with a long list of other actions, seemed to have generated a lot of attendance Saturday.
A couple from Tinley Park, dressed in teddy bear and unicorn blow-up costumes, also said the rally was their first protest.
Robert McManamy, a Homewood resident, said he had several conversations with other suburban residents attending No Kings rallies about increasing preparation beforehand due to increased fear of federal law enforcement and the possibility of agitators.
He said a friend sent him an hour-long video of rally safety recommendations from the American Civil Liberties Union. The advice included advice such as writing emergency contact phone numbers in permanent marker on their bodies. McManamy said preparations were not anywhere near this intensity before the rally in June.
At the first rally, “it was kind of all fun and games, but still important of course, McManamy said. “This time, it was like ‘let’s go, let’s do this.’ There was this sense of patriotic duty and also a heightened awareness that there could be pushback.”
But organizers said the rally had little pushback. Organizers said one man walked up and down with a sign that read “I’m MAGA and I’m in a cult” while insulting protesters. But a few leaders of Relentless said he regularly attends the biweekly protests, and they now call him “Bazooka Joe.” One leader followed him Saturday to make sure he did not start fights.
Police were also present to ensure safety, according to a few organizers. Officers were either undercover throughout the rally, riding bikes up and down or patrolling in their cars.
Some south suburban residents, though, said they chose to attend the Chicago rally.
Jack Zielinski, a Frankfort resident, said he chose Chicago after being invited by the Chicago Federation of Musicians. He said the Chicago rally was more publicized and scheduled sooner.