The Democratic Party is bracing for massive protests during the Democratic National Committee convention in Chicago in August, reminiscent of the chaos of the 1968 convention.
Fears of a repeat of the infamous convention, which saw hundreds arrested, have been thrown around as the Israel-Hamas war continues and as massive campus protests that have paralyzed several universities have further illustrated what may be in store for the Chicago DNC convention in August.
“This last week has taken the demonstrations to a different level,” former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff William Daley told the Washington Post. “It portends that you have the potential for big demonstrations. Whether they get violent — that’s more imaginable today than it was a year ago.”
Despite his concerns, he was hostile to mere suggestions that August could see a repeat of 1968.
“To analogize what’s going on in the country today with 1968 is ridiculous,” Daley, who attended the convention, said. “Only people who weren’t alive in ’68 have that idiotic perception.”
The DNC is staking its hopes on warding off chaos through an elaborate security arrangement coordinated with the Secret Service.
“Peaceful protest is fundamental to American democracy, and has been a fixture of political conventions for decades,” DNC spokesman Matt Hill told the outlet in a statement. “While Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans stoke political violence, we support the ongoing security coordination at all levels of government to keep our convention safe.”
“When the country looks to Chicago this August, the unity and excitement of Democrats will stand in stark contrast to the chaos and extremism stewing in the GOP,” he added.
Despite the attempt to deflect the image of chaos onto Trump and the Republicans, strategists are increasingly concerned that protests at the convention could render the argument moot. The White Hosue has struggled to find an approach to the War in Gaza that would satisfy its traditional pro-Israeli cadres while also placating the younger liberals, who have been vehemently critical of President Joe Biden’s response. The scenes of chaos wrought by the latter have proven to be a major thorn on Biden’s side and threaten to tank his image as a figure of stability in contrast to Trump’s chaos.
“Everywhere Joe Biden goes, chaos follows and he is berated by angry Americans who are fed up with his terrible policies,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Chicago will be no different, as people in the city, particularly Blacks and Hispanics, are suffering from Biden’s illegal immigrant invasion and soft-on-crime policies, and they have a right to make their voices heard.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters have already made known their intention to disrupt August’s conference.
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Last month, over 450 far-left activists attended the “March on DNC 2024” meeting, at which 75 different organizations planned how to disrupt the DNC convention scheduled for August. At the event, speakers outlined how to best carry out illegal actions, burned an American flag, and conspired over how to recreate the events of 1968, in which 10,000 demonstrators clashed with police while protesting the Vietnam War, resulting in 668 arrests and hundreds of injuries.
“Have you heard that the Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago?” Joe Iosbaker, a leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, asked the crowd. “Are we going to let ’em come here without a protest? This is Chicago, g**d*** it — we’ve got to give them a 1968 kind of welcome.”
