Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson personally agreed to the demands of anti-Israel protest groups on Friday, allowing them to set up a stage and sound system for their planned demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention.
The City of Chicago previously denied those items and other accommodations to the Coalition to March on the DNC earlier in the week, prompting the anti-Israel group to file an injunction in federal court. In the emergency motion, Coalition activists alleged the city trampled on their First Amendment rights by restricting how their message of ending U.S. aid to Israel could be heard.
The mayor apparently empathized with their movement and overrode the city’s denial of protesters’ requests, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“We talked directly to the mayor,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network. “We knew that he supported us, our coalition, and these protests and it’s proof positive that he called one of the top leaders of the coalition directly on his cellphone and said, ‘We’re gonna make this happen. I’m gonna make sure that everybody’s rights are protected.’”
Johnson called Frank Chapman of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression to let the various protest groups know they can use a stage and sound system in a large park near the convention’s venue. The city itself, however, will not be providing such equipment at Union Park.
“The mayor has said from the very beginning that he supports the protest movement,” Abudayyeh added. “The protest movement is what brought him to City Hall. . . . He said, ‘I understand that struggle. Because I am part of a national liberation struggle as well.’”
Friday’s agreement between Johnson’s administration and protesters also allows for the installation of seven portable restrooms on the far east side of Union Park, according to the Coalition.
“I’m going to make sure that these individuals have everything that they need to make sure that their voices are heard,” Johnson told reporters earlier Friday.
The demands stem from two permit requests that had been pending for more than seven months. The group accused the city of waiting until the last minute to deny the permits.
Chicago Department of Transportation assistant commissioner Bryan Gallardo signed a letter, telling the Coalition that it could not set up its own equipment as that would be “redundant.” Instead, a stage and sound equipment would have been provided at a smaller park where multiple groups will be located during the DNC.
Safety was an important factor contributing to the city’s initial rejection of the permit requests, Gallardo wrote. For example, people can conceal weapons in tents and portable bathrooms or use makeshift weapons against the police or public with the materials provided by such equipment.
“While CDOT is not suggesting that your particular group will use these items in these ways, their presence in the park could be abused by others to harm members of the public or law enforcement officers,” the letter states.
Protesters plan to hold two marches, starting in Union Park, on Monday and Thursday to coincide with the beginning and end of the DNC. The marches are approximately one mile long, but the Coalition continues demanding the city for a longer protest route for both marches.
An estimated 100,000 protesters from across the U.S. are expected to descend on the DNC, according to the New York Post.
Last week, Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling indicated his officers are prepared for a large number of protesters and will take action if riots start breaking out.
“We’re not going to allow you to riot,” Snelling said. “Protesting and rioting are two different things. You have the right to protest, but there will be no rioting tolerated.”
The Chicago Police Department has been diligently training its force to avoid the violent anti-Vietnam War protests during the city’s 1968 DNC and 2020 racial-justice riots following the death of George Floyd.
“It’s not 1968. Our officers are trained differently,” Snelling told NBC Chicago anchor Stefan Holt. “The department has evolved. Our officers have evolved. We’ve been training for this event for over a year, so the preparedness is what’s important.”