Worries have sprouted about the potential for violent protests at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in August on the heels of a violent pro-Palestinian demonstration at the Democrat National Committee (DNC) in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, according to a report.
After a meeting with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) on Thursday surrounding the convention, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chief of Staff Rich Guidice told Politico that CPD is getting ready in the case of similar occurrences next summer.
“We have to anticipate that there’s a lot of tension and very passionate positions,” chief of staff Guidice told the outlet. “There’s ongoing training already taking place, specifically in de-escalation training.”
“There will be many, many workshops and conversations on how to handle large crowds,” he added.
NBC News reported that dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday night “got into a shoving match with officers” outside the DNC headquarters. They had also blocked an entrance to the building, according to Journalist David Weigel, but they did not storm the DNC.
The demonstrators were pushed a block away from the building after police employed pepper spray,
