Well over 10,000 people were estimated to have attended the third round of “No Kings” protests across Lake and McHenry counties on Saturday, rallying against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.
Indivisible, a progressive movement organization with chapters across the United States, is the lead organizer of No Kings.
Dozens of protests took place in the Chicago area, with five in Lake County and three in McHenry County.
In Lake County, No Kings rallies were held in Gurnee, Wauconda, Buffalo Grove, Highland Park and Barrington.
The Gurnee protest was held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Grand Avenue and Hunt Club Road, Wauconda from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Route 176 and Main Street, Buffalo Grove from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at McHenry Road and Lake Cook Road, Highland Park from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Highland Park City Hall and Barrington from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m at the Barrington Metra station.
In McHenry County, rallies were held in McHenry, Crystal Lake and Algonquin.
The McHenry rally was hosted by Indivisible McHenry County from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Route 31 and McCullom Lake Road, and organizers estimated that around 3,000 people attended.
The Algonquin protest occurred from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the Fox River bridge at Algonquin Road and Harrison Street, while the Crystal Lake rally occurred from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 5380 Northwest Highway.
Organizers for Northeast Lake County Indivisible estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people attended the Gurnee protest.
The protest was jointly organized with Indivisible Western Lake County.
Protesters lined all four sides of Grand Avenue and Hunt Club Road holding signs, waving flags and chanting against the Trump administration.
One man dressed up as the Statue of Liberty with a sign that said, “HEY! I’m Defendin’ Freedom Over Here!” in a New York City dialect.
A woman said she came out to support the League of Women Voters (LWV), which advocates specifically for voting rights.
A person dressed up as the Cookie Monster and their sign read, “ME COOKIES COST MORE $$$ ME SAD.”
Among the many topics that protesters were voicing, one thing that numerous attendees were concerned about was the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“I’d rather have a illegal living next door to me that would 2,000 miles for his family to work hard and send money back to them – that to me is a person with honor, and he [Trump] has none. He’s never had any,” a man holding a “NO KING, NO SERF, NO SLAVE” sign said.
The man, who said he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, added that if U.S. troops conduct a ground invasion of Iran, there will be more casualties than in the Iraq War.
“Iran will be ready for them [troops], and you’re going to see casualties and body bags coming back, but that doesn’t have any effect to him [Trump], cause he doesn’t care,” the man said.
Vivianne Swerdlow, the Outreach Team Leader for Northeast Lake County Indivisible, said that “people feel very serious in terms of how much they care” compared to the last Gurnee protest in October 2025.
Sue Rose of Indivisible McHenry County, who helped organize the McHenry protest, said that attendees and their families brought “great meaningful signs.”
Some even dressed their dogs up, with one dog sporting a bandana against federal immigration enforcement like ICE.
Rose added that the area had sidewalks that made the event accessible to the elderly and handicapped.
There were at least three counter-protesters seen at the McHenry protest.
“Go get your paychecks,” one of the counter-protesters said. “Go follow some little girls in the bathroom, sicko,” the counter-protester added.
At least one truck was seen “rolling coal” at the event.
The McHenry Police Department was present at the rally.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people attended the other No Kings rallies across both counties.
Organizers estimated over 1,000 people attended the protest in Buffalo Grove, 350 in Barrington and 2,500 in Highland Park.
“What began in 2025 as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny, spreading from small towns to city centers and across every community determined to defend democracy. Our peaceful movement is bigger than ever,” the event organizers said.
“When our families are under attack and costs are pushing people to the brink, silence is not an option. We will defend ourselves and our communities against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence,” they said.
In October 2025, over 15,000 people attended the second round of No Kings protests in Lake and McHenry counties.
Additional rallies are expected to be held later this year.