CHICAGO (NewsNation) — As up to 30,000 demonstrators prepare for two pro-Palestinian marches during next week’s Democratic National Convention, organizers say they are hoping for a family-friendly environment that won’t involve conflicts with Chicago police officers.
Four times in the past nine months, protesters have shut down traffic in either downtown Chicago or in other areas around the city.
Organizers of the March on the DNC, a coalition of more than 200 social justice organizations, say that while local police officials have committed to not interfering with their First Amendment rights during two scheduled demonstrations, they will carry out their plans to have their voices heard.
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“The only role we see from the police is to not infringe on our rights to protest,” Faayani Aboma Mijana, a coalition spokesman and member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, told NewsNation.
Last November, members of the Chicago chapter of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network held a demonstration that blocked traffic in front of the home of Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in suburban Evanston.
The group demanded the lawmaker sign a piece of legislation that called for deescalation and a cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine. That demonstration led to the arrest of seven people.
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Protesters temporarily shut down a portion of Interstate 90 in December. A caravan of nearly 100 cars blocked lanes of the expressway for about two hours while waving Palestinian flags. The protest brought traffic to a standstill on Chicago’s northwest side before normal traffic resumed.
In April, protesters blocked a portion of a downtown street as they took over the area. Marchers calling for a cease-fire in Gaza encountered police, who kept the group from crossing another major downtown street. Fourteen people were arrested during the event, according to police.
The same day, 54 protesters were arrested after a group closed down a portion of Interstate 190 near O’Hare International Airport. The group blocked an off-ramp that leads to airport terminals as protesters called for an immediate end to the ongoing war in Gaza.
In addition to marchers blocking airport traffic, others sat in the middle of the roadway with their arms interlocked in solidarity.
March on the DNC organizers did not share the group’s protest plans with NewsNation.
Cops will protect DNC protesters’ rights
Chicago public safety officials say they are prepared for DNC protesters, adding police have no plans to interfere with demonstrators exercising their right to free speech.
Still, the city’s police superintendent Tuesday would not guarantee there would be zero arrests if protesters become unruly like in previous marches.
Organizers demanded a larger area for protests in a lawsuit against the city, claiming the route outlined by officials was too limiting for the large number of demonstrators expected to participate in the Pro-Palestinian march.
A federal judge ruled Monday the city of Chicago does not need to change its parade route. The ruling came after protest organizers said large groups of demonstrators could create a problem for residents living in neighborhoods around the United Center, where much of the DNC activity will take place.
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“That’s not something I am really worried about right now,” Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Tuesday. “We know what we didn’t want to do is tie up additional resources by prolonging a protest of that nature, but we will make sure, we will ensure as a police department that people who are protesting and exercising their First Amendment rights get the opportunity to do that.
“We will protect them, and we will protect the neighborhoods.”
Snelling said the police department has safety plans for areas where demonstrations are expected to take place during the DNC.
When asked if the department has a “handshake agreement” in place with protesters similar to one that existed for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that arrests will not be made, Snelling said such a pact is not necessary.
He said protesters will need to remain within sight and sound of the areas designated for demonstrations.
“If everybody is doing exactly what is expected of them, and they’re exercising their First Amendment rights, this isn’t an arrest situation,” Snelling said.
Other U.S. Pro-Palestine demonstrations
In April, 26 Pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after they were part of a group that blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Demonstrators were charged with a variety of crimes, including false imprisonment, felony conspiracy and misdemeanor conspiracy. Others were charged with trespassing, unlawful assembly and other minor offenses.
Protesters blocked lanes of the bridge when the demonstrators parked their cars on the bridge and chained themselves together. Traffic on the bridge was stalled for more than four hours, according to police.
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In July, pro-Palestinian protests involving thousands of marchers broke out in Washington, D.C., as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint hearing of Congress. A total of 23 people were arrested in the protests, which included demonstrators clashing with local police officers, and an American flag and an effigy of Netanyahu were burned.
Demonstrators also vandalized a statue of Christopher Columbus during the protests, which was decried by public officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Snelling has said previously that while police will protect the rights of protesters during the DNC, he will not tolerate violence or vandalism.
“We want people to exercise their First Amendment rights. We will protect them while they’re doing that,” he said on Tuesday. “But we will not guarantee someone we will not make arrests if they start to act violently or commit crimes.”
