DOWNTOWN — In case you forgot: Donald Trump never released his tax returns.
Chicago activists have already staged four massive protests here in the 10 days since Donald Trump was sworn in as president.
And there's going to be at least one more. About 24,000 people say on Facebook they're interested in attending a rally April 15 in Millennium Park imploring Trump to release his tax returns and fulfill a promise he made on the campaign trail.
"The nature of this administration is unlike anything we’ve ever seen," said Jeffrey Giles, a Chicago tax march organizer. "The one thing that does seem to get their attention and stick in their craw, so to speak, is when there are protests."
Trump's inauguration Jan. 20 spurred a big protest that shut down streets in the Loop. Trump's controversial remarks toward women drew 250,000 who marched in opposition to the new president his first weekend in office. Trump's plans to resuscitate the controversial Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, as well as bar citizens of Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, were met with big protests in Chicago as well.
But Trump's tax disclosures have long interested political observers wondering how entangled Trump's business interests are with foreign governments, how much money he's really made, or if his new administration faces other conflicts. Trump, as a presidential candidate, promised to release his tax returns after undergoing an "audit," but never did. A New York Times story in the fall suggested Trump hasn't paid federal income taxes for 18 years.
"It's apparent he's hiding something," said Giles, 53, of Rogers Park. "As someone who's worked every day, an average person, it is kind of insulting he's getting a pass."
The tax march will fall a few days before the April 18 tax filing deadline. Giles said the Chicago organizers are still working to get march permits from city officials. Like the women's march earlier this month, the Chicago tax march will accompany other protests that day in cities throughout the world.
The nascent Trump administration has ushered in a new normal of regular rush-hour and weekend protests Downtown. One activist group will be leading "Resist Trump Tuesday" protests in the Loop every Tuesday evening through April 18, or roughly the 100th day of Trump's presidency.
Another group plans a protest outside the Trump International Hotel & Tower on Feb. 19, or about a month after Trump's inauguration. A Presidents Day protest is planned on Feb. 20.
Activists are also organizing a Chicago "march for science" in response to Trump's climate change policies and crackdown on tweets from national park Twitter accounts, but a time and place have not been determined.
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