Story updated at 3:03 p.m. CTD
Several hundred people reportedly turned out for Monday's Tea Party Tax Day rally at Daley Plaza, where activists and politicians slammed President Obama, government spending and high taxes.
The rally kicked off at noon, and Steve Stevlic of the Chicago Tea Party helped bring local activists, politicians and media personalities to the event.
"Generally, its just a chance for people to get together and express their frustation with not only taxes in the United States but also spending, which is a larger part of the problem currently," Stevlic said on WBEZ's 848 Monday morning.
Speakers at Monday's event included U.S. Rep. and Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh, political activist and possible presidential candidate Herman Cain, Cisco Cotto and Dan Proft of WLS AM, C. Steven Tucker of TruthaboutObamacare.com, Adam Andrzejewski of For the Good of Illinois, Jonathan Hoenig of Capitalistpig.com and others.
"Our president should be ashamed of himself," Walsh told the crowd, according to NBC Chicago. "Every policy he believes in is destroying what made America great."
Stevlic told 848 that Tea Partiers aren't suggesting that people avoid paying taxes, however they are calling for a "flatter and simpler tax" and a wider tax base. He said that with the Bush tax cuts and tax loopholes, a smaller number of working class people are left carrying the tax burden.
"When you have a company like GE, which through favors with this administration and lobbying is able to get out of paying billions of dollars of taxes, that's something that hurts everyday working Americans," he said.
He also added that while the rally is taking place Monday, the government will borrow $380 million.
Members of MoveOn.org also planned a Monday event. The "Make Them Pay" event kicked off at Boeing headquarters on Riverside Plaza at noon. Protesters are angry that 12 corporations including GE, Bank of America, Google, BP, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Boeing, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Goldman Sachs and Chase were able to avoid paying taxes.
Have photos from either event? Submit them to chicago@huffingtonpost.com and we will add them to a slideshow.
All photos courtesy of HuffPost reader and photographer Erin Hoyt.