DNC Dispatch 1
The City of Chicago and several organizations seeking to stage demonstrations during the DNC have been in Federal court for weeks arguing over locations and march routes. The dispute was partially resolved when the city finally designated areas within “sight and sound” of the United Center for the march. Yet the parties still had significant differences over mechanics. Would stages, sound systems, and porta-potties be permitted? The city told demonstrators that they could march, but “no stages or platforms, portable restrooms or toilets, tents or canopies, or sound equipment may be installed by your organization.”
In response, the groups sponsoring the demonstrations filed an emergency motion in Federal court on Wednesday afternoon arguing that the city’s intransigence violated their First Amendment rights. A hearing was scheduled for today, but the parties reached an agreement permitting sound systems, a stage, and porta-potties for two of the demonstrations—one scheduled for Monday at noon and the second for Thursday at 5:00 PM. Apparently other groups who will be demonstrating at other times will have to fend for themselves.
At 3:00 PM today, Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network, held a press conference across the street from the Dirksen Federal Courthouse announcing the agreement between the groups and the city. According to Abudayyeh, a representative from one of the groups spoke personally with Mayor Brandon Johnson about the dispute—the representative had Johnson’s cell-phone number. Earlier in the day, Johnson told those gathered for a press conference that, ““I’m going to make sure that these individuals have everything that they need to make sure that their voices are heard.”
Over the last several months, Johnson apparently found himself caught between a rock and hard place. On the one hand, Johnson is a Progressive and a former paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, so he should have accommodated the demonstrators’ demands much sooner. Yet, as the Democratic mayor of the host city, Johnson is expected by party’s higher-ups to deliver a trouble-free convention rather than a repeat of the 1968 convention that set the table for a victory by Richard Nixon that fall. Presumably, Johnson has aspirations for an even more prominent position after his tenure as mayor comes to an end, so pleasing the higher-ups is a critical gateway to higher rank.
While Abudayyeh is pleased with the physical accommodations, he still is unhappy with the length of the parade route, which currently is just over a mile in length. He and other groups will continue to press the city to extend the route so that it exceeds two miles. With just two days to go until the convention kicks off, I doubt whether the route will be extended for Monday’s march, particularly because the Chicago Police Department most likely has already put in place a strategy for managing the current route. If safety and logistical issues do become an issue on Monday, I would not be surprised if the city makes changes before Thursday’s march.
I asked Abudayyeh just how firm the “up-to-25,000-demonstrators” number is, a number that has been bandied about for weeks in court filings and the newspapers. Specifically, I asked him whether he has a count for the number of buses coming from other cities. He responded, “We are not there just yet to be able to say we know the exact number of the people coming, but I can say that we have buses coming from Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio. We got buses coming from Detroit and Grand Rapids; from Milwaukee and Racine; from Minneapolis Minnesota . . . We haven’t said an exact number. If somebody else is saying 25, we are saying tens of thousands . . . It’s going to be big . . . Could end up being the largest protest in the history of Chicago for Palestinian rights.”
The press conference lasted just 15 minutes. The teams are now taking the field, with the demonstration scheduled for late Sunday afternoon.
Put me in coach.
[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]
Prepping Before the News Conference in Federal Plaza
Listening to the Press Conference on Friday August 16, 2024 Regarding Litigation Over Demonstration Logistics During the DNC
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