In several major U.S. cities, pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to bring travel and commerce to a halt today. There were demonstrations in San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge), Los Angeles (a shopping mall), Oakland (a highway), and New York (the New York Stock Exchange and the Brooklyn Bridge). This morning, a group of demonstrators shut down the Kennedy Expressway, angering people headed to O’Hare. A photographer friend was in the right Uber at the right time: he got out of the car a quarter-of-a-mile from the blockade so that he could photograph the line of demonstrators chained together across the Kennedy and their subsequent arrests.

I unfortunately had a previous morning engagement, but the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine had posted a notice on its Facebook page announcing a demonstration at 3:00 PM today in Federal Plaza. I went expecting some sort of rush-hour blockade. Would the demonstrators head to the Office of the Israeli Consulate General in the Ogilvie Transportation Center to shut down rush hour access to the Metra commuter trains? Or would it be DuSable Lake Shore Drive? Possibly a blockade at the entrance to the Eisenhower Expressway? The pro-Palestinian demonstrators are creative, so anything was possible.

It wasn’t just me who suspected something was in the winds of protest. Although there were no more than 250 demonstrators in Federal Plaza, the police were out in force: bicycle cops, police transport wagons, lot of SUVs, and cops with truncheons ready to be unsheathed at a moment’s notice.

The formal program in Federal Plaza adhered to the well-established playbook—chants, speeches, and too much standing around. One speaker, a medical technician or nurse who had recently been on a relief mission to Gaza, proved to be an exception to the normally strident and often uninformative speeches. He reported that when his group crossed the Egyptian border into Gaza, they were told that they were now on their own—a rather ominous warning reminiscent of the Twilight Zone. He spoke of one boy who underwent surgery with no or vastly inadequate anesthetics. We also heard about diabetics who have lost limbs because they have gone without vital medications for months. This health care worker also reported that many people were suffering from starvation. At future demonstrations, I would prefer to hear these first-person accounts, which are far more impactful than another round of the core chant, “From the River to the Sea.”

Early on, one of the organizers revealed that the police had put the kibosh on a march today. Over the last six months, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators have had largely unfettered access to the streets, repeatedly shutting down Michigan Avenue, DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and streets throughout the Loop. At times they have blockaded access to Starbucks, Zara, and Victoria’s Secret.

For the most part, there have been very few arrests. Early on, over 70 demonstrators received citations for blocking access to the Eisenhower Expressway during the evening rush hour—they were not arrested. And I have been told there were arrests at two demonstrations—one at the Ogilvie Transportation Center and another outside of Boeing’s riverfront offices. But I think it is safe to say that Donald J. Trump’s indictments still outnumber the total number of arrests prior to today.

This afternoon, I witnessed what I believe may be a sea change. The police were prepared to standby their edict. When the marchers left Federal Plaza, they headed north on Dearborn, but were met by a line of bicycle cops that ran from the west side of Dearborn to the east side. The demonstrators then reversed course, heading westward on Adams, but the police had established a blockade at LaSalle—no further westward movement—so the demonstrators turned south on LaSalle, and then tried to reclaim Adams by taking a shortcut through an alleyway. The police then penned them in, setting up a blockade at Clark and Adams. There appeared to be several scuffles between the police and the demonstrators, but I did not see any arrests.

The crowd then returned to the intersection of LaSalle and Adams adjacent to the Rookery. At that point, the police permitted them to demonstrate in place for what seemed like 45 minutes. CPD then relented, allowing the demonstrators to march to the corner of Wacker Drive and LaSalle. Much better photographic light due to the unobstructed open space and the setting sun. The demonstrators began with a sit-in, and then they opted for a die-in. It was followed by communal prayer, which most likely was the Asr, but might have been the Maghrib. I always like the prayer sessions because it casts everyone in a peaceful and reverent light.

Shortly after the prayer ended, CPD put its collective foot down. The police announced that those who refused to clear the intersection would be arrested. To their credit, the organizers also made several announcements, warning demonstrators that if they did not want to be arrested, they should vacate the intersection. I don’t know the specific thinking behind the police decision, but I assume whoever was in charge thought that the City had given the demonstrators sufficient time to make a symbolic stand. The time had come to reopen the streets to traffic.

The police were serious about clearing the intersection. First, when one demonstrator seemingly argued with the officer announcing that the demonstration was over, one of the officers made it clear: backoff. Second, several officers confiscated the speaker system used by the demonstrators at virtually every demonstration—I assumed it will be returned. Third, a group of officers began to march on Wacker Drive from Adams toward LaSalle; the entire way looking like they meant business.

At that point, those demonstrators who remained found themselves penned in, with police officers forming human fences to the east and south; the walls overlooking the Chicago River functioning as a third fence to the north; and the police SUVs, transport wagons, and officers serving as the rear-guard to the west.

Over the ensuing minutes, there were heated confrontations, with some pushing and shoving. Eventually the physical conduct became severe enough to warrant arrests. Who started it? Hard to say, but I suspect some of the demonstrators acted out of frustration as their efforts were stymied.

At one point, I felt a hand on my backpack pulling me backward. It was a police officer telling me—and I think out of concern for my well being—that I was in danger because I was too close even though I was on the periphery. Earlier another officer had asked me to vacate Clark Street because it was still open to traffic, but he specifically said, “Feel free to photograph us.”

To their credit, the organizers did not use the demonstrators as cannon fodder. I saw at least two or three familiar faces, who I would characterize as organizers, loaded into the back of the CPD transport wagon. I found that visual jarring because during the many pro-Palestinian demonstrations these same people have regularly joked with senior CPD officials overseeing CPD’s response.

The police clearly had a strategy for clearing the street. As my description hopefully makes clear, they didn’t charge into the crowd making mass arrests. Instead, they were patient, functioning somewhat like a boa constrictor, slowly squeezing the crowd. I may be wrong, but I sense they were waiting for someone to lose his or her temper, a loss that is irrational given the CPD’s overwhelming manpower, but almost inevitable when tensions are high. At that point, the police could pluck the person out of the crowd, and squeeze those who remained a little bit tighter. Inevitably, some of those further back decided that they were not interested in being arrested, so they found an opening, drifting out of the mass.

The cycle seemed to repeat itself several times, with most of those who were in the face-off with the police eventually leaving without zip ties binding their hands as they were led to a transport wagon. As the crowd dispersed, someone yelled that everyone should head to the police station to stand vigil until their compatriots were released from police custody. At that point, many who were dispersing appeared to join the people headed to the police station.

Let me offer a five observations. First, and foremost, while getting arrested under these circumstances can be viewed as a form of virtue signaling, I still view it as counterproductive. The money that will be spent on fines and legal fees could be used to aid those subsisting in the nightmare world that Gaza has become. I estimate that somewhere between ten and 20 people were taken into custody.

Second, many demonstrators are aware of their rights, with the result that dozens of people had their iPhones out filming the police. I heard one young man yell that he and everyone should collect video evidence to be used for a class action lawsuit. He also made an oblique reference to the Federal consent decree requiring CPD to change how it trains, supervises, and disciplines police officers. When I arrived home, I briefly reviewed CPD General Order G02-02 (December 19, 2022) addressing First Amendment activity. Unless that young man saw something I didn’t see, he doesn’t have much of a case. By all outward appearances, the CPD personnel adhered to the order.

Notably, the order offers a highly relevant example, stating:

The rights protected by the First Amendment and exercised on the public way are not absolute and are subject to time, place, and manner restrictions, as well as other applicable laws.

EXAMPLE: Persons expressing views protected by the First Amendment on the public way are required to comply with laws prohibiting physical obstruction of the movement of persons and vehicles on the public way or place and damage to public or private property.

As required by the order, the officers on hand: (i) did not hinder or prevent members of the public from recording police actions [Section IV(B)(4)]; (ii) issued a verbal crowd dispersal order [Section IX(E)(1)(a)(1)]; and (iii) provided the participants with a reasonable amount of time to disburse after the order was given [Section IX(E)(1)(b)].

Third, if CPD had a plan for today in place, their execution was perfect from a tactical perspective—I would offer the same observation had the demonstrators been pro-Israeli, climate-change, or abortion-rights demonstrators. As the bicycle cops road ahead of the demonstrators, police SUVs moved in and out of position, and officers on foot shifted positions, I found myself thinking that this was tightly choreographed ballet.

Fourth, defying the police is counter-productive, as this post and other media reports aptly demonstrate. The demonstrators received media attention, but not attention that highlighted the plight of the people in Gaza. Instead, the media focused on the arrests. Like it or not, the demonstrators stepped on their messaging.

Fifth, and finally, I suspect what I saw today was a major shift in City policy necessitated by the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Until today, I had the impression that the City took a largely “anything goes” attitude when it comes to demonstrations. Only time will tell, but I don’t think anything goes anymore. What will be interesting to see is whether CPD can contain demonstrators during the DNC Convention (August 19-24), when the number of people taking to the streets will be much larger, without being forced to deploy tear gas and truncheons. It seems to me that once the demonstrators far outnumber the police, things will unfortunately turn violent, as happened in 2012 at the NATO summit. I hope not.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order.]

The fact that someone is in police custody or that they have been arrested does not mean that the person is guilty of a criminal offense. They are presumed innocent until a final judicial determination of guilt is rendered.

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