'I will no longer be complicit': Demonstrators breach outer perimeter at DNC

Chicago (CNN) — Crews installed an additional line of security fences outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago early Tuesday in the area where, a day earlier, demonstrators breached an outer perimeter fence.

Hours later, during the second night of the convention, new protests broke out in the streets of Chicago and included some clashes with police.

About a dozen workers installed a third row of fencing stretching east on Washington Boulevard from the area that was breached. The new row is in between two that had been in place.

The added security measure comes a day after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, rallying against US support for Israel in its war against Hamas, split off from a larger protest march and breached a security fence near the United Center.

Members of this smaller group waved Palestinian flags, held up signs reading “Victory to the Palestinian struggle!” and chanted “Biden, Harris, you can’t hide, you’re funding a genocide,” video of the scene shows.

Protests over Israel’s war on Hamas following the group’s October 7 attacks have led to demonstrations around the country calling for an immediate ceasefire. Some of those demonstrations have been blatantly antisemitic, with some protesters voicing support for Hamas, drawing condemnation from Biden and Harris.

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said some officers were hit by water bottles and sprayed by protesters with pepper spray, but there were no major injuries.

He said officers had shown restraint in their response. Police also were involved in confrontations at a large demonstration protesters Tuesday night.

Police and protesters get into physical confrontations near Israeli consulate

Tuesday night’s protests saw some tense moments outside the Israeli Consulate where protesters and police in helmets began pushing and shoving, a CNN crew observed. According to CNN affiliate WLS, an organization called Behind Enemy Lines was demonstrating and had several speakers address the crowd before the physical confrontation began.

Members of the large crowd stayed in the area after the confrontation and followed different yell leaders, shouting slogans like “Free, free Palestine!”

Hundreds of officers flooded the streets, clearing the roadway and sidewalks.

Jeff, a 52-year-old from Florida who declined to provide his surname, was carrying an “Abandon Harris ’24” poster, and said he is currently part of the Abandon Biden campaign.

“We are here to exercise our rights as an American, as a taxpayer. We spend so much money on outside people. And we should spend it here,” said Jeff, who came to the United States from East Jerusalem 44 years ago.

He said the US was once the most beloved country in the world but is now the most hated.

“I tell people, vote your conscience. You never support the genocide because today you support it, tomorrow you’ll be the victim,” he said.

Jeff said he doesn’t know whom he will vote for but it won’t be Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

As darkness fell, protesters marched through the streets, their numbers dwindling and the demonstrations breaking into smaller groups. At times, police on bicycles would move toward the marchers and form a line, blocking their path.

At one point, a group of officers on foot fell back but then came quickly back, yelling, “Move back!” and turning around people on the sidewalk and street.

More than a dozen arrests Monday

There was no early word on how many arrests had been made Tuesday night but multiple people appeared to be detained by police. Video recorded by CNN showed one person with a yellow zip tie around their wrists while one officer held their right arm. Police had brought in a transport truck, where people who were detained were placed.

Thirteen people were arrested during the protests Monday, including 10 people who breached the fence, Snelling said. The charges ranged from criminal trespass to aggravated battery of police officers, he said.

“Those police officers responded perfectly, and we’ve got bodycam footage to prove it,” he said. He declined to immediately release any body-camera footage of the incident.

A day earlier, Snelling spoke to reporters and said the group had made it through one of two fences set up outside the convention area.

“They breached the fence. They got into the outer perimeter. They were trying to get into the inner perimeter, they were shaking the fence on the other side,” Snelling said. “Officers responded swiftly to make sure that that didn’t happen.”

“Our job here is to make sure that we keep the DNC safe, keep our city safe and keep our city safe,” he added. “We have no idea what they would have done had they gotten onto the other side. But as I’ve said before, we’re not going to tolerate anyone who is going to vandalize things in our city. We are not going to tolerate anyone who (is) going to commit acts of violence.”

Snelling said he did not associate the security breach with the march as a whole. “You had people who just wanted to have their voices heard. They did that. But you had a portion of that group who decided that they were going to stand behind and try to breach the fence and get to the other side, and we cannot let that happen,” he said.

The DNC Public Safety Joint Information Center said in a statement: “At no point was the inner perimeter breached, and there was no threat to any protectees.”

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, speaking with CNN from the convention floor Monday, said authorities have “a good plan in place” and described the fence breaching as brief. He said authorities will respect the right to protest but will not “stand for any mayhem.”

The pro-Palestinian march Monday was one of a number of protests related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war set to take place during the four-day convention. In anticipation of large protests, authorities have set up significant security operations around the United Center.

The protests have had other impacts as well. The Secret Service said Tuesday that a combination of protest activity in the area and two other separate shuttle bus incidents caused significant bus delays for attendees Monday evening.

Democratic speakers have largely shied away from discussing the Israel-Hamas war, although President Joe Biden specifically mentioned the protests as he said his administration was working to achieve a ceasefire and end the war.

“Those protesters out in the street, they have a point,” he said in his remarks. “A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.”

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