At times, it was hard to have a discussion Saturday morning while standing at Route 62 and Harrison Street, as the sound of car horns blared.

Between 500 and 600 people lined Algonquin Road on both sides of the Fox River bridge down to Main Street at the No Kings protest and passing trucks, cars and SUVs honked in approval.

The Algonquin protest started early and ended at 11 a.m. to give those there time to make it to Crystal Lake’s protest, said Blair Alexander of Carpentersville.

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Theresa Freet of Spring Grove yells during a "No Kings” protest rally on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, along Route 31 in McHenry. The protest drew thousands of protesters to the area to protest the policies of President Donald Trump. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

She is among about 20 people who protest at the intersection every other Saturday. “We are a small group but it is important to keep saying we are here. We get a lot of horns, and a few fingers,” from passersby, Alexander said.

Judy and Bob Kaplow said they were at their sixth protest in recent months. The Dundee Township couple said this was the first time they’d come to Algonquin and appreciated that it was closer to their home.

But it wasn’t location that brought them out, Judy Kaplow said, but conviction.

“My parents are both Holocaust survivors. If I was not here, their ghosts would haunt me,” Judy Kaplow said. “They saw this in another country, where they said ‘It could never happen here.’”

Bob Kaplow said he is afraid that if people do not protest, there will be no more America, adding that protesting en masse shows those with similar fears are not alone. “It lets people know they are not the only ones who feel this way.”

Alexander also pushed back against U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called the protests “hate America rallies.”

The protestors, she said, love America like spouses love each other. “They want each other to be better. That Mike Johnson said that, that you must hate America ... is wrong.”

The Algonquin event cleared out quickly as protesters headed to Crystal Lake, where another rally kicked off at 11:30 a.m.; McHenry, where was was scheduled for 11 a.m.; or others in the region.

An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people lined Route 14 from Exchange Drive to Crystal Point Road for the Crystal Lake protest, and another 5,000 were at the McHenry event.