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Today: April 04, 2025
Today: April 04, 2025

Mealworms possibly dropped on tables at Chicago hotel hosting DNC delegates breakfast

Election 2024 DNC
August 22, 2024
AP - AP

CHICAGO (AP) โ€” Mealworms may have sickened at least one person at a Chicago hotel event earlier this week during the Democratic National Convention, the cityโ€™s police superintendent said Thursday.

While the investigation by Chicago police and the FBI continues, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said clues point toward people putting mealworms on tables.

โ€œIโ€™m not sure that those were maggots,โ€ Snelling said Thursday when asked about the possibility of insects dropped on various tables. โ€œThere was sawdust, so they were probably mealworms. They look the same. But thatโ€™s still under investigation.โ€

Mealworms are common insects that have wormlike, yellow-to-brown colored bodies. They are the larval form of the mealworm beetle. Maggots are similar in appearance, but soft-bodied with white to transparent color. They are the larval stage of flies.

Multiple suspects, all women, entered the Fairmont Chicago, which was hosting a breakfast for delegates at the DNC and began placing โ€œunknown objectsโ€ onto tables with food before leaving the area at around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

One person who ingested the food was treated by medical personnel and released at the scene, according to Chicago police.

The Fairmont Hotel confirmed the โ€œdisruption,โ€ adding in a statement that staff โ€œacted immediately to clean and sanitize the area, ensuring that the event could continue without further incident.โ€

Earlier this year, activists released hundreds of mealworms, maggots and crickets at the Washington, D.C., hotel of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest the war in Gaza.

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