Worries have sprouted about the potential for violent protests at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in August on the heels of a violent pro-Palestinian demonstration at the Democrat National Committee (DNC) in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, according to a report.
After a meeting with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) on Thursday surrounding the convention, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chief of Staff Rich Guidice told Politico that CPD is getting ready in the case of similar occurrences next summer.
“We have to anticipate that there’s a lot of tension and very passionate positions,” chief of staff Guidice told the outlet. “There’s ongoing training already taking place, specifically in de-escalation training.”
“There will be many, many workshops and conversations on how to handle large crowds,” he added.
NBC News reported that dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday night “got into a shoving match with officers” outside the DNC headquarters. They had also blocked an entrance to the building, according to Journalist David Weigel, but they did not storm the DNC.
The demonstrators were pushed a block away from the building after police employed pepper spray, as Breitbart News noted.
Capitol police said 150 protesters were “illegally and violently protesting,” and six officers were injured in the process. The injuries ranged from “minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched.”
Tonight 6 officers were treated for injuries – ranging from minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched. One person has been arrested for assault on an officer. We appreciate our officers who kept these illegal & violent protesters back & protected everyone in the area.
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) November 16, 2023
Some Democrat lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Democrat Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA), were inside the DNC when the protest unfolded.
“This rattled me more than January 6th (attack) did,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) told the Detroit News. “I was scared. Someone is going to get hurt at one of these things. They can get out of control.”
One group called Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression intends to make a presence, having submitted a permit application for a 1,000-person protest at the convention. The nature of the protest would be over Israel’s response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, according to Politico.
One of its cochairs, Kobi Guillory, blamed Wednesday night’s clash between law enforcement and protesters in the nation’s capital on police and told the outlet that Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression would not be seeking a physical confrontation, though he said, “It’s up to the police.”
“Look at what happened in 1968,” he added, pointing to the 1968 Democrat convention in Chicago, where tensions flared between police and Vietnam War protesters. Over the three-day convention between August 26-29, more than 650 demonstrators were arrested, Politico previously noted.
“We are planning to keep things family friendly, but we don’t know what the police are planning,” Guillory said. “We aren’t going to get into fistfights with police. We are going to air our grievances.”
Politico noted that the Secret Service will have a hand in security at the convention as it is considered a National Special Security Event.
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