CHICAGO — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Wednesday near the venue where the Democratic National Convention held its third evening, with organizers saying that about 7,000 demonstrators participated.
The protest, a far cry from the violent face-off between law enforcement and protesters on Tuesday in front of the Israeli Consulate that resulted in dozens of arrests, was organized by March on The DNC, a coalition of more than 200 organizations.
No protesters were arrested during Wednesday’s march, but there was a moment of friction between law enforcement and demonstrators when police extracted a female protester out of the new elevated train station near the United Center, where the DNC is hosting its convention.
The confrontation caused a small melee outside the station, when protesters began banging on the station’s glass wall. The crowd cheered, though, when they saw that police escorted the protester out of the station, and she was not in handcuffs.
March on DNC spokesman Hatem Aduayyeh told The Washington Times that Wednesday’s march had “tons of energy.”
“I really enjoyed it. It was one of those that had, like, full-top energy from beginning to end,” he said. “And that doesn’t always happen at these things, especially when they’re four and five hours long.”
Busloads of families and students from nearby mosques brought the protesters to the demonstration that began and ended at Union Park. Chicago’s southwest suburbs have one the largest concentrations of Palestinians in the country.
Pro-Israel protesters were escorted by police out of a park near the United Center earlier in the day before pro-Palestinian marchers made their way near the site.
Demonstrators are expected again on Thursday, the final night of the Democratic convention, when Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination to lead the top of the ticket. Protesters have been critical of Ms. Harris and her party, calling her “Killer Kamala,” for supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.
“She said that she is an ironclad supporter of Israel, and she said she would not support an arms embargo,” Mr. Abudayyeh said. “So if she gets up tomorrow night and says, ’I’m not going to support an arms embargo, and I remain an ironclad supporter of Israel,’ she hasn’t made any change in her perspective on the question, and it is not going to make any policy changes.”
Chicago police said they arrested 56 protesters and three journalists during a chaotic clash near the Israeli consulate on the second day of the Democratic National Convention.
Several police officers have been injured in the confrontations, and police Supt. Larry Snelling is credited with helping to stop several other officers from being trampled by protesters. The journalists were detained for allegedly defying police orders.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.