(GoRealNewsNow.com) – As the city ramps up security amid safety concerns, hundreds of additional law enforcement officers are heading to Chicago for the Democrat National Convention (DNC).
According to ABC News, about 50,000 people are expected to attend the event, along with “thousands of protesters.”
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said ahead of the convention, which kicks off today, “Our plan is to make sure we keep everyone within the city safe. We want this to be successful.”
Businesses have already started boarding up their windows in anticipation of potential violence.
“As we know, this city has a poor track record when it comes to protecting businesses,” stated Scott Shapiro, owner of the menswear store Syd Jerome.
He added, “We felt it was more prudent to board up since our customers and their employers have told them to stay home throughout the convention for their own safety.”
Moreover, recent events have only heightened these concerns, as just days after Chicago was selected to host the 2024 convention in April 2023, massive groups of teenagers took to the streets, engaging in robberies, fights, and shootings over several days.
The chaos continued for multiple nights, causing significant harm to the local community.
Then-Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson (D) emphasized the need not to “demonize” the teens involved in the unrest, while Chicago has a troubling history of tolerating violent unrest.
During the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, rioters looted, vandalized, and shot up businesses and neighborhoods across the city. Local BLM organizers even justified the looting, calling it “reparations.”
On Christmas Eve 2023, pro-Palestinian protesters targeted the homes of local lawmakers and shut down Interstate 90, the main route connecting Chicago to O’Hare International Airport, in both directions.
In June, pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized the city’s iconic Buckingham Fountain, dyeing the water red and spray-painting messages like “Gaza is bleeding” on it.
While large protests are anticipated during the DNC, the police superintendent said Chicago is better prepared to manage them than it was in 2020.
He mentioned that law enforcement leadership has been undergoing additional training for over a year and that extra police resources will be drawn from across the state.
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