STERLING – More than 250 people gathered in front of Sterling’s Grandon Civic Center and post office Tuesday to peacefully protest against President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk.
The protest was organized by several members of the Action for a Better Tomorrow Sauk Valley political group, some of whom are associated with the Whiteside and Lee County Democrats political organizations. The group was there to share frustrations over the Trump administration’s actions and views concerning immigration, diversity initiatives, the LBGTQ+ community and other groups.
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Passing cars honked in support while protest organizer and ABT-SV member Cat Clarke walked among the crowd with a bullhorn, leading them in a chant: “Musk is bound to fail, USA is not for sale.”
“I am a member of the LGBTQ community, and I am here with my wife to stand up to the Trump administration,” Clarke said. “We fear for our community and our marriage. I have friends who are people of color. I have friends who are immigrants, all who fear for their status and their ability to remain safe and free in this country. My wife and I are also Social Security recipients, and we fear for those rights as well.”
Clarke said her wife recently suffered from heart issues and relied on Medicare to help pay for medication and a procedure to place a stent in her heart. Clarke is afraid the sweeping changes coming from the White House since Trump took office eventually could affect their ability to pay for her wife’s health care.
“If these things were good for the nation, so many people wouldn’t be frightened and suffering,” Clarke said. “We need to stand together and protect LGBTQ and trans rights, our seniors, our disabled, and reinstate policies that protect people of color and other marginalized communities in the workplace. We also need to stand with Ukraine, which was illegally invaded by Russia.”
Whiteside County Democrats Chair Fidencio Hooper-Campos said he is worried that the Trump administration is trying to “undermine democracy.” He started receiving Social Security six years ago after retiring from 45 years of union steel work.
“The possibility of losing my Social Security or having it cut concerns me,” Hooper-Campos said. “All these cuts to different essential programs just to fund more tax relief to billionaires doesn’t make sense. Once reality starts hitting people on the other side of the fence, I think we might start seeing a sea change.”
Hooper-Campos also shared his disappointment in Trump’s recent remarks that seemingly blame Kyiv for inciting Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and in which Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections.” Trump went on to warn Zelenskyy that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead.
“How can you go against a democracy that’s fighting for their lives and side with dictators?” Hooper-Campos said. “I want people to know that we’re not all behind this craziness, and that there’s still a home for democracy in Whiteside County, Lee County and northern Illinois.”
Palmyra Township Democratic Precinct Committee member Sarah Bingaman said she came out to “bring attention to the destruction of our Constitution and our status in the world caused by Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
“Yesterday I was devastated when our ambassador to the United Nations sided with our previous enemies, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela and Hungary, in failing to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend its borders,” Bingaman said. “Our president is very successful at distracting people with silliness, and while people are distracted, he’s taking a sledgehammer to our federal workers, military leaders, Social Security checks and to children who are starving because of loss of USAID money all over the world.”
The U.S. Agency for International Development is a government agency providing foreign aid and development assistance to struggling nations. It is one of the largest food-aid providers in the world. Musk has accused USAID of being a “criminal organization,” and Trump has said the organization is “run by radical lunatics.”
Trump on Jan. 20 issued an executive order freezing congressionally appropriated foreign assistance. However, a federal judge on Tuesday gave the administration two days to release billions of dollars in foreign aid, criticizing it for failing to comply with a court order that he issued almost two weeks earlier to lift the funding freeze.
Clarke said Tuesday’s protest is only one of many planned to take place throughout the Sauk Valley.
“We want the local community to see how many of us are here and that it’s OK to stand up and speak your mind,” Clarke said. “If you’re afraid, know that we have your back and support you. Big change starts with small movements. All politics are local, and this is where it begins.”