Nate Gowdy for Mother Jones
As the 2024 Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday in Chicago, thousands of protestors took to the city’s streets to demand an end to Democratic politicians’ support for Israel’s war in Gaza, where the death toll reached 40,000 late last week, and where United Nations experts have announced widespread starvation.
Two separate protests were planned and organized months in advance, one by the Coalition to March on the DNC, composed of hundreds of local and national organizations including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Black Lives Matter Chicago, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
A concurrent march organized by the Poor People’s Army, a Philadelphia-based anti-poverty organization, was not allowed to complete its permitted route, which ended in front of the United Center, where the convention is being held. Co-founder Cheri Honkala was arrested as she tried to pass a police line to serve the convention a “citizens’ arrest warrant,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Honkala was arrested in July for a similar attempt at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Though largely peaceful, protests did become contentious when smaller groups of activists, separated from the larger rally by informal “peace officers” working with the main protest organizers, broke off from the planned route. Dozens of people breached the security perimeter surrounding the United Center at a nearby park on the route, after which the Chicago Police Department deployed at least a hundred armed officers in riot gear to block gaps in the fencing.
Protestors chanted slogans including “No justice, no peace” and “the whole world is watching.”
At tense moments, some protestors who broke off from the main march taunted police by throwing signs: a few helmeted officers climbed an exterior fence, appearing to yell at protestors on the other side and eventually arresting at least twelve.
The National Lawyers Guild’s Chicago chapter condemned police handling of the arrests, which hospitalized one protester, it alleged.
“The response by Chicago police to First Amendment–protected activity we’ve seen so far is extremely intimidating for people wanting to speak out at this crucial time,” NLG member Amanda Yarusso said in a press release.
Videos posted to social media by local journalists showed protestors surrounded and manhandled by police. When a police line formed, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling was spotted by a Sun-Times reporter.
Around 7 p.m. local time, an eight-tent, unannounced encampment was set up in Union Park, about half a mile from the United Center. The park hosted a rally earlier in the day in which thousands of protestors gathered for the March on the DNC, though the small group setting up the encampment was not affiliated with that event.
But an initial grouping of several dozen police officers soon arrived and headed directly for the tents, entering one—only to retreat soon after protestors surrounded them, chanting, and erected a ninth tent.
Once hundreds of officers had streamed into the park, the modest encampment was ordered to disperse, and protesters dismantled and removed their tents. As the sun set, the few remaining protestors packed up and left.
A second day of action is set for Thursday, the convention’s final day.
