Hundreds march along Michigan Ave. to 'Defend the Election'

Hundreds of protesters demanded full accountability of the nation’s vote-counters during a Rally to Defend the Election that began at Daley Plaza yesterday afternoon. After listening to remarks by SEIU Executive Vice President Erica Bland-Durosinmi, they took an eight-block circular route through the north Loop and back to the Daley Center.

“The will of the people will be heard today,” Bland-Durosinmi declared at the start of the event. “The people have spoken across race and place. We voted in overwhelming numbers to move this country forward and start addressing the serious issues we face. From Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Detroit to Atlanta, ballots still need to be counted.”

Nearly three dozen organizations supported the demonstration, including Black Lives Matter, the Chicago Teachers Union, Jane Addams Seniors in Action and the National Lawyers Guild.

Hyde Park fundraiser Josh Fox, who attended as a marshal to help keep order, is also a member of sponsoring group Indivisible Chicago, the local chapter of a national movement that “sprung up after the 2016 election to fight the Trump agenda.”

“All these groups anticipated — just like everybody who’s paying attention — that there’d be legal shenanigans to try to get votes to not get counted like there was in 2000 and that Trump would start claiming victory before anything was over,” he said. “Every vote needs to be counted. Let’s let this process play out.”

Frank Chapman, Co-Chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said that his organization was there to care fore “the peoples’ agenda.”

“The election isn’t overwith yet,” he said. “Trump is losing. He was losing last night when he said he was winning. It just goes to show you that we have an aspiring fascist in the White House.”

The demonstration traveled east on Washington St. to Michigan Ave., north on Michigan to Wacker Dr., west on Wacker to Clark St., and south on Clark back to the Daley Center.

Dozens of Chicago police officers on foot, on bicycles and in vehicles accompanied the marchers, who carried signs and changed slogans like “Count every vote.”

Alphonso Acevero, a plumber from Pilsen, rode his bike downtown and observed the protest from the Michigan Ave. sidewalk. A self-described “Latino for Trump,” he had shifted his allegiance from the Democratic Party that he supported in 2016.

“I saw a lot of job opportunity once Trump started his campaign,” he said. “I switched. I’m one of those walkaways.”

Although Acevedo described his vote for Trump as “the best choice I ever made in my life,” he was satisfied with the mood of the demonstration and willing to accept whatever results come of the election.

“It looks peaceful so far,” he said. “It is what it is. We still gotta go to work tomorrow.”