For the delegates attending and those protesting against Democratic Party’s support for the Israeli military, hosting the 2024 National Convention would be a strategic move by Chicago. The organizers of those protests have been planning national efforts, aiming for tens of thousands of demonstrators to flock here this week.
Rally permits are in the works for two of the nights when protests could be largest over Israel’s fighting with Hamas fighters in Gaza: Monday, opening night of the convention, and Thursday closing it. Organizers of the protests have also scheduled a rally for Tuesday evening in front of the Israeli Consulate.
“Make it great like ’68! Shut down the DNC for Gaza,” an Instagram post from the group Anti-Imperialist Resistance shared Tuesday morning reads. The post contains details of the march starting at the Israeli consulate at 7 p.m. CT.
Chicago was already bustling with some of the hundreds expected before an Occupy Wall Street-style leaders’ meeting marked by small protests at Union Park over the weekend, which is where larger marches will be funneled to stay in bounds legally.
However, organizers pointed to a web page for March on the DNC 2024 that states they are coordinating with those chartering buses into town so all can be taken directly here.
Another NYPD inspector, Paul Mauro, said: “Chicago is perfectly positioned as reachable by every activist group in the country.”
Some security experts see a possible risk that agitators in the crowds — like those who turned their anger on police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, sparking violence there — might try to provoke confrontations with officers.
Police in Chicago reported more than two dozen shootings and five homicides over the weekend leading up to the convention, according to crime statistics.
