Weekend Roundup: Mayor Brandon Johnson Attends No Kings Protest, Goes Viral Calling For General Strike

CHICAGO - This weekend, Mayor Johnson addressed hundreds of thousands at the 'No Kings' protest, spoke with local media about his Protecting Chicago Budget proposal, and met with residents to discuss the ground-level needs the budget seeks to address.

On Friday, Mayor Johnson sat down with ABC7's Craig Wall to discuss how the Protecting Chicago budget responds to the Trump administration by safeguarding critical programs against Trump's cuts while raising taxes on large corporations and the ultra-rich to prevent the need for property taxes or a grocery tax.

Later that afternoon, Mayor Johnson made the first three stops on his Protecting Chicago Budget Tour, part of the Mayor's effort to take the budget proposal directly to the people of Chicago. Mayor Johnson made stops in the 33rd, 28th, and 20th wards to meet with residents and organizations who would benefit from the Protecting Chicago budget.

In the 33rd ward, Mayor Johnson visited NuBar Cafe where he met with residents before traveling to Nighthawk Chicago where he participated in a roundtable discussion with community leaders. See photos here.

In the 28th ward, Mayor Johnson connected with members of the Garfield Park community before participating in a roundtable conversation about his budget proposal. See photos here.

Mayor Johnson ended the day in the 20th ward where he participated in a final roundtable with members from the Chicago Torture Justice Center to discuss the community-centric investments included in the Protecting Chicago Budget. See photos here.

On Saturday, Mayor Johnson attended the No Kings protest where he spoke about the need for unity amongst working people. In reference to the "general strike" by enslaved African-Americans during the Civil War, Mayor Johnson told the crowd of more than 100,000 people: "If my ancestors, as slaves, can lead the greatest general strike in the history of this country, taking it to the ultra-rich and big corporations, we can do it too!" A clip from the speech has gone viral on Instagram and X. There were no arrests at the No Kings protest. See the full speech here and see pictures here.

Mayor Johnson also attended the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) convention where he spoke about the importance of investing in public education at a time when the Trump administration is defunding and dismantling the Department of Education. The Mayor called on partners at the state to work with the City of Chicago to pass progressive revenue to fully fund Chicago Public Schools and school districts across Illinois. See the full speech here.

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