Hands Off Protest Arlington Heights April 5, 2025 (CARDINAL NEWS). YouTube Tips ⓘ
Mayor Tom Hayes at the April 7, 2025 Village Board meeting Monday night introduced a discussion about the “Hands Off” rally protest that occurred Saturday, April 5, 2025, saying that he has been very proud over the course of his 34 years, keeping politics out of the village board room, and said it would not happen again this evening.
Village leaders nodded to the protection of First Amendment rights, but have become concerned with public safety issues that were brought to light — especially safety of pedestrians on busy streets and the passage of emergency vehicles. A former trustee, a trustee-elect, and two sitting trustees were among the protesters. The former Village Trustee was Nicolle Grasse. The Trustee-Elect, Bill Manganaro, and the two sitting trustees, Robin LaBedz, and Wendy Dunnington, according to their statements made at the village board meeting, prioritized national politics under the guise of First Amendment rights, instead of prioritizing management of local issues, such as unobstructed streets and public safety order, that would normally be a village trustee’s role in local government.
A second protest is planned in the same vicinity around noon on Saturday, April 19, 2025.
A Village Board majority on Monday, April 7, 2025 appeared to be in agreement that they’re going to need to study how to efficiently manage big gatherings after the unexpectedly large protest began in downtown Arlington Heights just before noon on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The protest, known as a Hands Off protest in Arlington Heights, was one of a series of demonstrations launched across the United States on April 5, 2025 with a stated goal of public resistance against the second administration of President Donald Trump. The protests involved 1,400 locations in the United States with an estimated 3-5 million participants nationwide, according to the demonstration organizers. The stated mission of Hands Off coordinators was to protest President Donald Trump’s policies related to issues involving labor unions, democracy, civil rights, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights groups.
An estimated 2,000 demonstrators attended the local “Hands Off!” protest in downtown Arlington Heights, which focused on opposition of President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk. The event started from around 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with a rally at North School Park, and grew for a couple of hours as people marched south on Arlington Heights Road to rally points at three corners of the intersection of Northwest Highway and Arlington Heights Road — the southwest corner, the northwest corner, and the northeast corner at Dunton Park.
Former Arlington Heights Village Board Trustee and State Representative Nicolle Grasse (Democrat 53rd District) spoke to the crowd using a bullhorn at North School Park before protesters marched southbound on Arlington Heights Road and southbound on Evergreen Avenue.
Some protesters along Arlington Heights Road at North School Park began directing their banners and chants toward motorists passing by on Arlington Heights Road at about 11:35 a.m. The protesters’ behavior involved chanting with finger pointing toward passing motorists, as if the motorists were their opposition to be scolded and schooled about Trump’s policies. However, many motorists responded with horn honking in support of the protesters. By about 11:45 a.m., protesters were entering and obstructing Arlington Heights Road — shaking hands, and high-fiving with drivers of vehicles that were supporting the protesters. As Arlington Heights Road became completely obstructed with protesters in both directions, police used a police SUV to block Arlington Heights Road at Miner Street. Police also blocked the left turn land from US-14 EAST (Northwest Highway) to northbound Arlington Heights Road. A significant group of protesters walked southbound from North School Park in the southbound lanes of Arlington Heights Road to Northwest Highway. One protester, carrying and waving a pride flag, walked southbound along the median of Arlington Heights Road; and the crowd of protesters walking on the sidewalk on the northbound side of Arlington Heights Road spilled out into the street and interacted with obstructed motorists in the northbound lanes of Arlington Heights Road. Seeing that traffic had come to a complete stop, several motorist in northbound lanes and southbound lanes began to make U-turns to leave the area.
The Northwest Central Dispatch System (NWCDS) 9-1-1 Center alerted area fire departments that Arlington Heights Road was blocked by about 1,000 protesters at 12:41 p.m. Saturday, but incorrectly announced that the location of the protest was at Arlington Heights Road and Sigwalt Street. That could have been an issue, for example, if a Palatine ambulance paramedic crew was planning to transport a trauma patient to Level 1 Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital via US-14 EAST (Northwest Highway).
Arlington Heights Road was shut down temporarily in both directions near Miner Street and near North School Park, and at Arlington Heights and Northwest Highway. Arlington Heights Road vehicle traffic was closed to vehicle traffic at one point for 20 to 25 minutes, according to Village of Arlington Heights officials.
“We’re looking very thoughtfully, and are going to be working with organizers any time we have a big event,” said Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus. “What could we have done differently, what could the organizers have done differently, how could we have worked differently together and how could we have communicated this differently to minimize any disruption to the community in limitation of people and public safety vehicles moving through the area?”
Recklaus said he and his staff will look at village policies, practices, training and methods and report back to the village board.
At their Village Board meeting Monday night, the mayor and some trustees offered varying views on the protest and degree to which it was safe.
Mayor Tom Hayes and Trustee Jim Bertucci raised concern regarding the demonstrators going onto busy streets near the train station, saying 2,000 people in close contact to moving cars and transit “creates a potential public safety hazard.”
“We’re not in any way trying to infringe on the constitutional right of freedom of speech and to protest and to assemble, but we do want to make sure it’s done safely,” Hayes said at the board meeting.
Jim Bertucci, performing his duties properly as a Village Trustee concerned with local government issues, was the only Village Board Trustee that spoke about recognizing the priority of Arlington Heights Road as a regional thoroughfare for emergency vehicles, and concern about the safety of the protesters wandering into vehicle traffic, and protesting near train tracks with passing trains.
“I agree that the crowd was generally very much respectful and well behaved. I agree with the Village Manager and with you that we do have to have a game plan. It is dangerous with the train. I think maybe seeking something that would be you know ‘X’ amount of feet away from the tracks — something to that effect… making sure that organizers understand that Arlington Heights Road is a regional thoroughfare for emergency vehicles, not only for our ambulances and fire trucks. I live right off of Arlington Heights Road, and Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Palatine (paramedics) often use Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway as a thoroughfare to our regional hospital — obviously Northwest Community Hospital. So I think we do have to look at that going forward, and I would agree 100%.
We’re not looking to impinge anybody’s freedom, obviously, to protest, and I would agree that it was an “in the moment” kind of thing, but with other things that we can do to prevent that “in the moment situation” … and 20 to 25 minutes to block Arlington Heights Road when somebody’s coming down Arlington Heights Road in an ambulance for a heart attack or something like that is a concern. So, I like the direction we’re taking it … we’re going to have some conversations and work with organizers in the future to make sure those things don’t happen. Plus, what we’re trying to do is protect the protesters too, especially when it comes to maintaining some distance from the actual tracks.”
— Trustee Jim Bertucci
Trustee Robin LaBedz and Trustee Wendy Dunnington statements and Trustee-Elect Bill Manganaro statements at the Arlington Heights Village Board meeting were less concerned about the disruption of Arlington Heights Road and downtown Arlington Heights, and were predominantly in political favor of the anti-Trump protesters’ “First Amendment” rights.
Trustee Robin LaBedz, who said she attended the rally Saturday, said “organizers told protesters to stay on the sidewalks and not go onto the street, but the crowd grew organically.”
“I was there Saturday afternoon, and at the beginning, I can assure you that the organizers starting at North School Park were telling people, “stay on the sidewalks” … not to go into the street, and I think I know what happened. Just having talked to organizers, that it (the protest) grew organically. There were more and more people that came. People wanted to express their First Amendment rights of protest here in Arlington Heights. Not everybody wants to go downtown to Chicago to participate in actions there. It was also something that to my understanding hadn’t been in the works for too many days. It wasn’t originally going to be one of the sites. So, I found people to be — of those that I witnessed — very respectful of one another … of the police officers that were there. I heard people, I witnessed people thanking police officers for being there, even though it was people were walking on the sidewalk, and so I think that while we can always take a look at what processes can be done, I want to just state that I thought it went actually very well, and there was no intent to disturb … impede public right of way. Yes, there were a lot of people, and it did end up interfering. I did see that a police car was blocking the left turn lane from Northwest Highway to North Arlington Heights Road as an abundance of caution, I’m sure, to ensure nobody got hurt, but even the drivers in the cars seemed to be pretty respectful. So, I would just like to say that that was my perspective from Saturday afternoon.”
— Robin LaBedz
“While we can always take a look at what processes can be done, I want to just state that I thought it went actually very well,” LaBedz added. “There was no intent to disturb or impede the public right of way,” according to the observations of Robin LaBedz.
Trustee Wendy Dunnington agreed with Trustee LaBedz. “I’m confident that the police and the fire (departments) do have a plan whenever Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway are blocked, whether that’s for an accident or a train delay or a protest,” Dunnington said. “I think it’s important that we respect everybody’s First Amendment right.”
“I was also at the event on Saturday, and I just wanted to say that the police were fantastic. They were calm, professional and respectful and I’m confident that the police and the fire do you have a plan whenever Arlington Heights Road and Northwest Highway are blocked, whether that’s for an accident or a train delay or a protest. So, I think it’s important that we respect everybody’s First Amendment Rights.”
— Trustee Wendy Dunnington
Trustee-elect Bill Manganaro, who said he also attended Saturday’s protest, said “peaceful” doesn’t necessarily mean “without disruption.” He made this point, almost with a level of giddiness. “While it was not intended, it occurred,” Manganaro added.
“I live about three blocks south on Bristol Lane, and I also was at the protest on Saturday. And I first wanted, since Chief Pecora is not here, Mr. Recklaus, I’ll thank you and ask you to pass along my thanks to the (police) department. I had the chance to speak with police in every intersection where they were stationed during the course of that morning, that afternoon, excuse me. They were overwhelmingly helpful. They received a lot of appreciation from the people who were there, and I also had a chance to speak with one of them after, who told me that they, like all of us, there were more people than expected, and they started with four officers. And I think that the department responded as capably and as quickly as they did, is commendable. And we talk about First Amendment: Peaceful does not necessarily mean without disruption. While it was not intended, it occurred; and I do have a great deal of faith in our emergency services, in our dispatch that the delay that was no longer than we have seen when there have been train-pedestrian and train-auto accidents … that they are capable of re-routing emergency vehicles around Arlington Heights (Road) and Northwest Highway to get them to Northwest Community (Hospital) or whatever is their destination as quickly as is feasible and possible, and with minimal delay. I saw everything from babies in strollers to senior citizens in that crowd, it was overwhelming because people were in fear. $6 trillion. (At this point Mayor Tom Hayes interrupted, stating, ‘Mr. Manganaro, we’re not going to get political here.’ Manganaro ignored Mayor Hayes and repeated, ‘People are in fear’ Hayes repeated: ‘Mr. Manganaro we’re not going get political.’ Then Manganaro replied, ‘I’m done with that. I was here until 4 PM. People stayed in our town. They stayed at our restaurants, and thank you very much,’ as he walked away from the podium.”
— Trustee-Elect Bill Manganaro
Hayes said he arrived late to the protest “in his capacity as mayor” to make sure the crowd was dispersing peacefully, and that that our police officers were doing their job; and I can attest to the fact that they were.
There was only one known reported injury at the protest. A female adult protester apparently fell off the sitting wall on the north side of the Arlington Heights Clock Tower Plaza. She apparently was standing on the sitting wall when she fell and injured her face, which was bloodied. An Arlington Heights police officer helped her, and Arlington Heights Fire Department paramedics were dispatched to assess her injuries and treat her injuries. There was no confirmation whether she was transported to the hospital.
Hands Off protester hurt falling off sitting wall at Clock Tower Plaza in Arlington Heights YouTube Tips ⓘ
April 7, 2025 – Board of Trustees Meeting – Village of Arlington Heights, IL (SOURCE: Village of Arlington Heights). YouTube Tips ⓘ
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