DNC protest groups cry foul after city denies permits for stage and sound system at rallies near United Center

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/15/dnc-protest-groups-cry-foul-
after-city-denies-permits-for-stage-sound-system-at-rallies-near-united-
center/

A coalition of activist groups planning a massive protest at the 
Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week are crying foul after 
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issued last-minute denials of 
requests to set up stages and sound systems for rallies in parks near the 
United Center.

In an emergency petition filed in U.S. District Court late Wednesday, the 
Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention, which has a 
pending civil rights lawsuit against the city over protest preparations, 
called the move a bait-and-switch violation of their constitutional 
rights.

“The city’s efforts to deny at this late date the plaintiff’s request for 
a stage and sound amplification system so speeches can be heard 
unreasonably burdens plaintiff’s First Amendment rights without the city 
creating a record that such restrictions serve a compelling governmental 
interest,” the motion stated, asking U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood to 
intervene.

The group is planning to hold a news conference at City Hall on Thursday 
morning ahead of a hearing in the federal lawsuit at 1:30 p.m. A rally at 
City Hall was scheduled for later in the day.

Protest leader Hatem Abudayyeh blasted the decision Thursday night. The 
city may be providing equipment at a smaller park near the United Center, 
but will not be doing so at Union Park, where the March on the DNC was set 
to begin with speeches, he said.

“It’s essentially telling us, you can go to this thing and meet, but you 
can’t have a program,” Abudayyeh said.

The latest controversy comes just days away from the kick-off of the 
convention after the city responded by letter to two permit requests that 
have been pending for more than seven months to be able to install stages 
and sound equipment as well as portable toilets and other amenities in 
Union Park and another smaller park along the planned protest route.

The letter, which was attached to the emergency motion, stated the rally 
petitions were granted “subject to the following conditions: no stages or 
platforms, portable restrooms or toilets, tents or canopies, or sound 
equipment may be installed by your organization.”

The city said it was going to provide a stage and amplified sound at one 
of the parks which will be used by multiple organizations during the four-
day event, and that allowing other groups to bring in their own equipment 
would be “redundant.”

The letter, signed by Chicago Department of Transportation Assistant 
Commissioner Bryan Gallardo, also cited myriad safety concerns, as tents 
and porta potties can be used to conceal weapons or other illegal activity 
and their materials can be broken down and used as weapons against the 
police.

“While CDOT is not suggesting that your particular group will use these 
items in these ways, their presence in the park could be abused by others 
to harm members of the public or law enforcement officers,” the letter 
read.

In their nine-page motion for an injection, however, the activist groups 
say the real motive for the last-minute, “made-up process” was to try and 
silence their protests against the Israeli military action in Gaza and 
other concerns. Activists have estimated that as many as 20,000 
participants from across the country could be in Chicago for the event.

“The DNC has an interest in minimizing the exposure of Democratic 
officials to protests, particularly around the issues plaintiffs seeking 
to protest,” the motion stated. “The reason the city is denying … the 
opportunity to use stages and a sound system is because, at the behest of 
the DNC, they do not want the speeches heard.”

The issue over the planned rallies is one of the final sticking points in 
the long-running efforts to gain access to areas “within sight and sound” 
of the United Center, which is serving as the main convention center.

Earlier this week, Wood ruled that she will not force City Hall to widen 
and lengthen the protest route near the United Center, writing the city 
has a “significant government interest” in controlling the expected crowds 
for safety and security.

In her 24-page decision, Wood wrote the challenges to the alternate parade 
route proposed by the city “boil down to a complaint” that City Hall 
hasn’t offered “the exact route plaintiffs desire,” even though that route 
“allows them to speak near their intended audience.”

“This falls well short of a First Amendment violation,” Wood wrote. “As 
such, the alternative parade route represents an adequate alternative 
channel of communication.”

The route, proposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration last month, 
calls for protesters to assemble in Union Park on the Near West Side 
before marching west along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue, then 
past a small park north of the United Center. The route then turns east on 
Lake Street back to Union Park.

The march’s organizers had been fighting for a wider, longer path to the 
convention center, including being allowed to stay on Washington Boulevard 
instead of being diverted to smaller side streets. Other sticking points 
continue to be where and when the groups involved will be able to stage a 
rally near the United Center.

The two sides were still at odds in court last week, with plaintiffs’ 
attorney Chris Williams telling the judge they were “blindsided” by the 
possibility that they might not be able to hold speeches in a park two 
blocks north of the United Center.

Williams vowed to keep fighting for a plan for marches and speeches he 
argued would be safer than what the city has proposed and better align 
with his clients’ First Amendment rights.

“The way the city is doing this is take-it-or-leave-it, ‘you do what we 
say,’” Williams told Wood at the hearing on Aug. 5. “It’s not enough to 
say, ‘You have a route, you’re going to live with it.’ You’re going to 
have chaos.”

At the most recent hearing on Tuesday, the judge said she could see why 
the city’s last-minute maneuvering could be a cause for concern for the 
plaintiffs.

“It does seem a bit odd to me that the park permit applications have been 
pending so long without a response,” Wood said.

[email protected]

Originally Published: August 15, 2024 at 8:56 a.m.


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