Chicago City Wire

Ray Lopez, 15th Ward alderman, said the June 14 “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump was a “pointless performance by progressive elites” and warned that the Democratic Party is becoming disconnected from working-class voters as Chicago faces rising lawlessness. 

The protest, which drew 15,000 participants downtown, coincided with a military parade celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 79th birthday.

Lopez, a Democrat and frequent critic of the city’s progressive wing, expressed skepticism about the protest’s purpose.

“I really don't understand what the purpose of the No Kings protests were, other than to give progressive older white folks an excuse to go out and march in the street,” Lopez told Chicago City Wire. 

The June 14 demonstration was part of a coordinated series of events protesting Trump administration policies, especially immigration and ICE enforcement.

Lopez said organizers, city officials, fellow Democrats, and party leaders have effectively abandoned working-class voters in favor of social media attention and symbolic gestures.

“We understand that we live in a democratic republic,” Lopez said. “We vote to elect our leaders at every level of government. And yet, they’re trying to stick to the performance of some of the crazier elements of the Democratic Party just to feel like they're standing up to Donald Trump. This idea that we have to constantly be in protest, as opposed to trying to organize, win and move the needle legislatively — it’s just a deflection from actually accomplishing anything. That seems to be the progressive playbook: act like you're doing something, rather than actually doing something.”

While the June 14 protest avoided the violence of the June 10 anti-ICE demonstration — during which rioters vandalized police vehicles, defaced public property and assaulted police officers — Lopez said the broader protest movement lacks substance and is alienating working-class voters.  

Those protests mirrored anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles where more than 560 arrests have been made since June 8, which have cost taxpayers over $32 million for police response and cleanup, marking one of the most intense confrontations since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

“The Democratic Party used to be the party of the working man, the party of governmental safety nets for individuals when they needed help,” he said. “The party that took care of the needs of the people, and we've transformed ourselves into the party of the elite, the party that is constantly lecturing people about what should be important to them, as opposed to addressing what is actually important to our voters.”

Lopez cited a viral video from the “No Kings” protest showing two demonstrators blocking a Black woman on her way to work as evidence of the Democratic Party’s stance.

“We saw those two white protesters blocking that African-American woman trying to go to work and laughing at her for her priorities of trying to maintain her job and employment and her source of income to take care of her kids,” Lopez said. “That's what's the problem of the Democratic Party right now. They're too focused on trying to tell people what they think should be important as opposed to hearing people's real concerns.” 

Lopez also criticized fellow Democrat U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, who participated in the protest rally. 

Lopez notably ran against García in the March 19, 2024 Democratic primary for Illinois' 4th Congressional District, where García won with 68.9% of the vote to Lopez’s 30.4%.

“I didn't see Chuy's performance on stage, and to be fair, I don't even need to because I can guarantee you that nothing he said matters,” Lopez said. “Because he currently has the power to change laws at the federal level, and rather than do one ounce of work, he'd rather stand on stage and pretend like he's doing something. My views on him have not changed one bit because he is emblematic of the problem with the Democratic Party and as well as progressivism as a whole, which is to talk a lot, not bring specific change of policy initiatives and then complain when nothing happens.” 

Lopez also blamed Chicago's current leadership for worsening public safety and economic decline.

“We cannot have a return of [Mayor Brandon] Johnson. Chicago needs a workhorse, not a show pony,” Lopez said. “We need someone who understands what it will take to bring us out of this valley of despair. That includes getting rid of the half dozen or so socialists and mayoral allies who are helping lead this city into ruin — like Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez, Daniel La Spata and Andre Vasquez. Those aldermen need to go because they are as dangerous as they are stupid, and it’s showing on the city.”

Lopez’s comment comes as Johnson’s approval rating has slipped to just 6%. 

As the city faces challenges, Lopez said public safety must be the top priority.

“You need to address public safety—first, second, and third—always, because everything else will come after once people feel safe in the city of Chicago,” he said. “You cannot attract tourism if people are afraid to come here because they think they're going to get shot, or going to be stuck in a street takeover or some teen-wilding action on the Magnificent Mile.” 

Lopez believes that without restoring safety, the city’s economic recovery and community stability remain out of reach.

“No one’s going to invest in neighborhoods and businesses if they think that the moment they open their doors, they’re going to be looted and robbed by young people who will never get prosecuted,” he said. “You have to have neighborhoods where families feel safe raising their children and allowing them to go to school, because otherwise families will not come here.”

He pointed to a decline in construction as evidence of economic stagnation since his 2015 election.

“Right now, there’s only one crane in the city of Chicago, and that is across the street from City Hall, rebuilding the Thompson Center for Google,” he said. “When I was first elected 10 years ago, we had 62 cranes in the sky building things. All of those cranes represent hundreds of millions of dollars in investment that no longer happens in the City of Chicago. That’s not anecdotal; that’s real. And that has a profound impact on our economy.” 

Lopez described today’s political activism as largely symbolic and driven by social media.

“If you want to perform and make yourself feel good like you're standing up for something, dye your hair purple and go stand in a ‘No Kings’ rally,” he said. “If you actually want to do something, start figuring out how to build a safer Chicago that focuses on economic growth, and that'll be the winning ticket that saves the city from the break.”

He also warned of a political culture increasingly detached from the public and driven by self-interest, expressing deep concern over the lack of civic education and critical thinking among today’s youth.

“I’m concerned because we don’t teach our youth critical thinking,” Lopez said. “I’m concerned because we do not teach them civics and how to understand the power of the vote and the power of that voice in that vote, where they’re more concerned about making a reel for Instagram or Snapchat than they are about learning or questioning their leaders. I’m worried that you have politicians who feel like they are above everyone and are very much elitist.”

Lopez criticized the focus of current protests, pointing to what he sees as misplaced priorities in political activism.

“For all the brouhaha over ‘No Kings,’ I don't see anyone arguing about no gerrymandering that keeps congressmen in office for a hundred years, making millions of dollars on the side from their inside contract information like Nancy Pelosi and others,” he said. “They're not protesting that, but they're going to protest Donald Trump. We have our priorities backwards in this country because we don't understand how this country's meant to work.”