Activists arrested protesting Israel’s war on Gaza outside the Democratic National Convention on Monday have reported injuries from police violence that required hospitalization and a lack of access to attorneys or medication while in custody, according to legal observers and attorneys representing demonstrators.
Chicago police arrested 13 individuals at demonstrations on Monday, according to the National Lawyers Guild Chicago, a nonprofit legal support organization. The majority of those taken into custody were participating in the main, permitted march that included about 3,500 protesters moving the several city blocks between Union Park and the United Center, where Democratic delegates gathered for the first day of the convention. During the march, some protesters breached a security fence but were quickly pushed back. Two other individuals were arrested on Sunday during a separate rally for transgender rights and abortion rights outside hotels in downtown Chicago where delegates were staying, the guild said.
Charges filed against protesters are largely misdemeanors, including criminal trespass, criminal damage to property, and one case of reckless conduct, the lawyers guild said.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, who heads the department, said Tuesday morning in a press conference that other charges include resisting arrest and obstructing an officer, as well as one aggravated battery of an officer. No officers were injured during demonstrations, Snelling said, while alleging some protesters used pepper spray on officers.
While Snelling praised his officers for having “showed great restraint,” two protesters were hospitalized due to injuries from arrests. In both cases, officers used force on protesters, said Matthew McLoughlin, who coordinates defense attorneys with the National Lawyers Guild.
A third demonstrator was hospitalized after suffering a panic attack during an arrest. When officers brought her back to jail, McLoughlin said she was cuffed to a wall by her ankles with tight restraints, causing severe swelling to her joints. Attorneys had to intervene and request officers loosen the cuffs.
Another protester had told officers about a medical condition and that they needed access to medications. Police initially denied their requests to be transferred to a hospital to receive their medications, McLoughlin said. Officers allowed for the hospitalization only after multiple complaints by attorneys.
In response to questions from The Intercept, the Chicago Police Department sent a link to Snelling’s press conference from earlier in the day.
Days before the convention, activists who were beaten by police during protests against the war in Gaza at the Democratic National Committee headquarters last November filed a lawsuit against Washington, D.C., police. The lawsuit’s allegations of police brutality heightened anxieties about possible police violence in Chicago, where thousands plan to pack the streets during the course of the event. Activists are marching to demonstrate on a range of issues but are largely calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop sending military aid to Israel.
The war in Gaza also weighed on Democratic delegates inside the convention. A group of 30 “Uncommitted” delegates and a growing number of more than 150 Kamala Harris delegates who are standing in solidarity with the Uncommitted movement have been pushing for the party to include an arms embargo on Israel in its platform, and for Palestinian Americans to speak from the main stage. Most speakers on the main stage have so far ignored the topic of Israel and Palestine, with only three speakers mentioning the issue: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.; and President Joe Biden, the only speaker to acknowledge the protests outside the convention.
“Those protesters out in the street, they have a point,” Biden said after mentioning his administration’s efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal. “A lot of innocent people are being killed — on both sides.”
Outside the convention hall, officers pursued and targeted protesters who were already leaving the area after dispersal orders, arresting them as they made their way to public transit or ride-share drivers, a representative from the National Lawyers Guild told The Intercept.
McLoughlin has provided legal aid to protesters in Chicago over the last seven years. Since October 7, he said the guild has supported at least 450 individuals who were arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. But since the start of the DNC, McLoughlin noted increases in aggression of law enforcement responses.
“There have been 450 arrests in the last 10 months, but it wasn’t until [the DNC] that we have had people taken to hospitals,” he said.
He also said that he believed the show of force from the Chicago police is meant to deter free protests. “The number of officers dispatched are not there to maintain public safety,” McLoughlin said, “but we believe are there to chill First Amendment speech, as a deterrent.”
Snelling said at the press conference there was a difference between peaceful protesters and those who breached the security fence, maintaining that his officers responded appropriately. When questioned by a reporter on instances where protesters not involved with the fence breach were also swept up in arrests, Snelling dug his heels in.
“Sometimes being in the wrong place at the wrong time is indicative of the choices that you make to engage in criminal activity,” he said.
Another rally with the Poor People’s Army, with an estimated attendance of 300 protesters on Monday, peacefully marched toward the edge of the security perimeter along the United Center to make “a citizen’s arrest to the Democratic Party for crimes against humanity,” the group said, referring to the Biden administration funding and arming Israel to kill Palestinian civilians in Gaza, as well as a lack of response to the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the U.S.
The group of low-income families, some accompanied by their children, were met by a large number of officers dressed in riot gear, said Cheri Honkala, co-founder of the Poor People’s Army, who attended the march with her 2-year-old pushed in a stroller.
Officers took Honkala into custody during the protest and charged her with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
“It was excessive,” Honkala stated. “They could have simply arrested us, issued a citation, and told us to disperse, but there is a fine line when police officers assume the role of judge and jury in determining who can exercise their First Amendment rights.”
McLoughlin criticized the law enforcement for not following the Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminated cash bail and allowed officers to cite and release individuals suspected of minor offenses like nonviolent misdemeanors.
After her arrest, Honkala was confined in the back of a police van for several hours, causing her hands to go numb due to the tight restraints. Her request to loosen the restraints was denied by the officers. It took attorneys over five hours to locate her, according to McLoughlin.
Attorneys had difficulty communicating with detainees following the protests, with the police department admitting they were unaware of the detainees’ locations. Some protesters were also denied access to phones, leaving them without legal representation for extended periods. Additionally, attorneys faced challenges finding private spaces for confidential discussions with their clients.
“This appears to be a recurring pattern during National Security Events,” McLoughlin remarked, referring to the increased powers given to law enforcement during such events. He recalled a similar situation during the NATO summit in 2012 when he participated in the Occupy Movement protests.
“There is a significant investment in enhancing police technology, increasing police presence, and cracking down on protests to stifle dissent before it even begins,” he added.
Honkala was released at 2 a.m. after the attorneys finally located her. Despite the peaceful nature of their rally, the experience left her surprised. Her group takes an oath to nonviolence before each march, primarily to safeguard themselves from police brutality.
“Incidents like the killing of Eddie Irizarry by a police officer are not just theoretical to us; these are real people within our community,” Honkala emphasized. She resides near the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, where the tragic incident took place. “We value our lives and the lives of our children.”
