Democratic convention organizers work to balance free speech with safety amid tensions over protests
Tensions remain high over the prospect of protests around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August.
CHICAGO — The U.S. Secret Service has led security planning for nearly a year. Chicago police have spent hundreds of hours training officers to responsibly handle protesters. Public officials are vowing to strike a balance between keeping order and allowing free speech.
Yet tensions remain high over the prospect of a Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August.
The rash of protests at college campuses across the nation over the Israel-Hamas war, including violent clashes at UCLA and most notably a building takeover by protesters at Columbia University in New York City, has added a new urgency over security and whether protests could spiral out of control this summer. The focus comes as the city expects more than 5,000 delegates to descend on the DNC, with tens of thousands of additional visitors, including from the highest levels of government, from the president on down.
Groups vary in their expectations for how many activists will travel to the city, with the ACLU putting it in the thousands and one pro-Palestianian group putting it at the tens of thousands.
Those involved with security and logistics planning — including the Secret Service, the Chicago Police Department and those directly involved with the convention arena itself — insist there will be a balance between allowing freedom of speech and keeping order. They also say they’re ready for what’s to come, and while they’re paying close attention to the kinds of protests that have broken out on college campuses, they are not scrambling security plans because of them.
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