CHICAGO — Protesters motivated by fervent opposition to U.S. support for Israel remain determined to demonstrate outside the Democratic National Convention next week, despite the party’s last-minute switch to a candidate seen as more sympathetic to their cause.
Protest groups preparing for the event say tens of thousands of people will gather in Chicago to crown Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid.
Chartered buses will bring protesters from Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and elsewhere, said Hatem Abudayyeh, the lead organizer of next week’s marches and national chairman of the advocacy group US Palestinian Community Network.
Abudayyeh said he held a virtual meeting with members from across the country to gauge interest in a leadership change after Biden dropped out of the race. There was a quick consensus, he said.
“We are not going to do anything different. We are going to mobilize,” Abudayyeh said. “Harris represents the administration, she represents Biden. Nothing she has said independently indicates to us that she does not support these policies.
Predictions of large, disruptive protests used to dominate discussions about the convention. But since the upheaval within the party, talk of demonstrations has died down. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are drawing crowds of 10,000 or more in key states, and money is flowing into the campaign, alleviating party concerns that disaffected Arab and Muslim voters in key states like Michigan could cost Democrats the race.
Harris has called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, but has largely echoed the language of the Biden administration. Biden has increased pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire deal, but he has been one of Israel’s strongest supporters since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,100 people and led to the taking of hundreds more hostage. Israel’s response has killed tens of thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas fighters continue to hold hostages – a response that has outraged critics in Israel and the United States and fueled domestic opposition to Biden.
Since becoming a candidate, Harris has clashed with protesters at her rallies, including at an event where she warned that the opposition risked electing former President Donald Trump.
But pro-Palestinian groups say they expect the same level of engagement from their members as if Biden were the nominee next week. They have already added “Killer Kamala” to “Genocide Joe” at protests, including Sunday outside a fundraiser in San Francisco. Abudayyeh said his group would be satisfied when the United States stopped sending money to Israel to support a war that has killed thousands of civilians. He also said he feared an escalation in the region.
“The movement says not only that we must stop the genocide, but also that we must prevent it from becoming a regional war,” he said.
Chicago law enforcement officials say that after a year and a half of planning, the convention and the city will be safe no matter what.
“We feel very well prepared. We are ready. What people really need to understand is that this is a national security event. All the resources of the federal, state, county and local government will be brought to bear,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “That’s the highest security designation the United States can give to anything. … We are very confident in the security plan of the Chicago Police Department. We are going to work hand in hand to make sure that the DNC is safe and Chicago is safe.”
However, Robert Grant, a former FBI special agent in charge of Chicago, warned that outside of those participating in peaceful protests, there are often bad actors trying to take advantage of large-scale events.
“It’s summer. It’s Chicago. There’s always some idiots coming to town,” Grant said. “You can be Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, they’re here to cause chaos. That’s all they care about.”
Grant referred to the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago, the most recent major event in the city that required a high level of security protection — though still not as high as the Democratic convention, he said.
Before the summit, investigators identified locations where homemade weapons, such as socks filled with rocks, were hidden. Law enforcement monitored social media for encrypted public messages that some groups were sharing in real time and were able to pass that intelligence to bike patrols that thwarted bad actors before they struck.
A menacing video circulated on social media Tuesday in which the narrator, whose face was obscured, declared: “As home to the largest Palestinian diaspora in the country, we want to welcome the killer Kamala, her partners in crime and her future vice president to our city.”
Guglielmi said the Secret Service was aware of the video: “We’re following it closely. We’re seeing it. We’re going to make adjustments as needed.” But he pointed to an FBI statement that there is currently no credible threat to the convention.
“At this time, the FBI is not aware of any specific, explicit threats related to the DNC,” the FBI said in its statement. “We will continue to evaluate and share intelligence received from domestic and international partners related to the DNC, as we would for any large-scale event in the Chicago area.”
