Group calls for town halls with congress members

BARRINGTON, Ill. (WLS) -- Protesters gathered at the doors of congressional offices on Thursday to rally for change in Illinois. They said they want to hold lawmakers accountable for their actions.

Outside the village hall in Peter Roskam's sixth congressional district, one of 16 protests took place on Thursday, organized by a group calling themselves Indivisible Chicago.

At a place representing each congressional office, dozens of people demonstrated to signal what they call a new age of political activism.

While most insisted the effort was not orchestrated by the Democratic party, many held signs protesting the month-old administration of President Donald Trump.

"A lot of us woke up and realized we didn't do enough. We maybe voted. We maybe donated a little money, but we didnt fight hard enough," said Jason Rieger of Indivisible Chicago.

At all but one location, the targeted Illinois congress members were not in their offices.

Yesterday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer called demonstrators at several locations around the country "professional protesters."

But those that ABC 7 talked to in Barrington and in Chicago described themselves as unaligned progressives.

Diane Schulton told ABC 7 that they - from the left wing perspective- will use the tactics of the right wing Tea Party movement of a few years ago.

"They did a great tactical job. I disagree with their philosophy, but they got people to vote instead of only protesting. We're doing that, too," said Diane Schulton of Barrington.

Indivisible Chicago is demanding town hall meetings with each of the region's congress members. They vowed to keep on the political pressure until the 2018 mid-term elections.