Plans for multi-block DNC security perimeter announced by authorities as convention spotlight nears

CHICAGO — Federal and local authorities on Thursday released long-awaited details of the planned security perimeter around the upcoming Democratic National Convention, a marquee event for the city that promises to bring not only the spotlight of the presidential race to Chicago but protests and safety concerns as well.

“Let me state this unequivocally: Chicago is ready. We were born ready,” Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters.

“This will be a peaceful and unified expression of our sacred democratic process,” Johnson said. “… You will be protected and served throughout this convention.”

Officials unveiled a pedestrian-only restricted zone around the United Center that stretches approximately from Washington Boulevard on the north and Seeley Avenue on the west to Adams Street on the south, with the easternmost part of the border ending between Wood and Paulina streets.

Only people with credentials who “have a need to be there” — such as convention attendees, volunteers and other workers — will be allowed within that inner perimeter, said 2024 DNC coordinator Jeff Burnside.

An outer perimeter will allow vehicles subject to a screening checkpoint at the corner of Paulina and Monroe streets. The outer border extends east and south of the pedestrian-only zone by roughly a block.

The northern edge of the perimeter is less than 350 feet from Maypole Avenue, where city officials have offered to allow a huge contingent of protesters to march.

Similar restrictions will take effect around the McCormick Place convention center, with a small pedestrian-only border around the center’s West Building and a vehicle screening zone bordered roughly by Michigan Avenue, 21st Street and the Stevenson Expressway.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Johnson and Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling were among those joining federal representatives at the announcement.

“The eyes of the world will be on our great city and security and safety will be our top priorities,” Pritzker said. “… What will take place next month is a beautiful display of democracy in action.”

Snelling stressed the Police Department’s day-to-day responsibilities will not take a back seat to DNC security.

“This is not just about the Democratic National Convention,” Snelling said. “The Chicago Police Department has an obligation to the entire city of Chicago. Every single neighborhood we will be protecting. And we’re looking at our manpower, we’re looking at our allocations, and we want to make sure and we will make sure that the neighborhoods who need us the most, we will be there for those neighbors. We will be there for the entire city of Chicago.”

Meanwhile, about 500 additional police officers, mostly from municipalities across Illinois, will be sent to Chicago to assist CPD during the convention. Those officers will receive additional training as well, Snelling added.

“Based on our assessment, we have a very good complement of officers who will be out there,” Snelling told reporters. “They’re highly trained, they will be responding professionally. And we’re going to make sure that as we work with our partners … we will make whatever adjustments we need to make as things change.”

The DNC is slated to be held at the United Center from Aug. 19-22. Thousands of delegates, politicians and hangers-on will descend on the Near West Side arena, where the party will formally select its candidate for president.

The perimeter restrictions around McCormick Place are scheduled to take effect at 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16. The United Center closures will begin at 7 p.m. the next day. Before the restrictions formally take effect, residents might notice fencing or security barriers being installed, Burnside said. Parking restrictions are expected to take effect and will be posted in advance, he said.

Pedestrians can move freely within the outer perimeters, but vehicles will be screened at security checkpoints before they can enter. Bicycles will not be subject to the security checks, Burnside said.

Businesses in the outer perimeter will be accessible to anyone during the DNC, but businesses in the pedestrian-only zone can only be used by convention attendees and volunteers.

After President Joe Biden’s exit from the race over the weekend briefly threw the process into chaos, the party is coalescing around Vice President Kamala Harris as nominee. Johnson called the expected nomination of Harris “a new breath of life into our nation.”

That means the events inside the United Center may be largely predetermined. Outside the building, however, is a different story.

The convention is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters, whom city officials initially wanted to confine to Grant Park — some 3 miles away from the United Center.

A coalition of protesters filed a lawsuit arguing for closer access, and earlier this month revealed that the city had offered an alternate route. The revised plan calls for protesters to assemble in Union Park on the Near West Side before marching west along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue, then on Maypole past a small park north of the United Center. The route then turns east on Lake Street back to Union Park.

That route still presents challenges, the coalition stated in a court filing, including the potential for massive “log jams” on smaller side streets given the enormous number of expected participants. The lawsuit is still ongoing, with arguments before U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood slated for Aug. 5.

In a news release Thursday after the perimeter was announced, protest organizers reiterated that in their view the offered route is “inadequate.”

“The ball is in the City’s court,” Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, stated in the release. “It just needs to give us a longer route with wider streets, that is, all the way up Washington Boulevard, and we’ll immediately sign on the dotted line.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s office has said it is preparing for as many as 25,000 migrants to be transported to Chicago from the southern border in the coming weeks. That number is speculative, Deputy Mayor of Immigration Beatriz Ponce de León said, but the possibility remains that Republican lawmakers in border states would strategically flood Chicago with migrants in an attempt to throw the city into chaos at a crucial time for Democrats.

Asked Thursday about the possible arrival of more buses, Johnson said “our collective resources are prepared for as many as 15,000” new arrivals.

“We certainly hope that (Texas) Governor (Greg) Abbott finds Jesus Christ as his lord and savior and doesn’t do that,” Johnson said.

Chicago has homegrown problems too. The widespread civil unrest of 2020 is a fresh memory, and the summer so far has seen the usual spike in gun violence, with more than 100 people shot over the long Independence Day weekend. The police superintendent has repeatedly stressed the department’s training rigors — especially related to First Amendment and crowd control measures — for officers who will be assigned to the DNC.

And Cook County officials announced Wednesday that they will open a temporary court facility on the Northwest Side to handle court appearances if needed for an influx of arrestees.

The stakes for convention security, already high, were raised significantly after an assassination attempt on ex-President Donald Trump earlier this month. The shooting in Pennsylvania left Trump without serious injuries but solidified fears of escalating political violence and prompted criticism of the Secret Service’s capabilities. That agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned Tuesday amid questions of how the gunman was allowed to get so close.

Cheatle visited Chicago less than two months ago, addressing reporters with Snelling to tout the interagency coordination ahead of the convention.

“We’ve got a tremendous working relationship with Chicago police, as well as a multitude of other agencies, both local and federal, that will be contributing to this whole-of-government approach that we’re taking” with the DNC, Cheatle said at the time.

“I’ve said this over and over again: We have been preparing for this DNC since we found out that we’re going to be a host city,” Snelling said two days after the assassination attempt on Trump. “And all of the incidents that could occur, we’re accounting for those things and we’re making sure that we’re training around those things.”

As aldermen learned of the DNC security plans during a Public Safety committee hearing later Thursday, protests were once again top of mind. The City Council’s lone Jewish member, Ald. Debra Silverstein, 50th, asked if Jewish organizations and businesses should shut down ahead of expected large pro-Palestinian protests.

Snelling said they should stay put and will be protected. The department will make sure free speech rights are protected, but will not tolerate violence and vandalism, he added.

“I would never tell someone to run away,” Snelling said.

Most aldermen shared general approval for the plans as the leaders of several city departments promised everything from CTA services to city ambulances would serve the neighborhoods normally during the convention.

Committee chair Ald. Brian Hopkins, Second Ward, said he believes the city is a little behind schedule in preparing, but felt reassured by the convention logistics presentation. But one last lingering question will play a key role in determining how the convention goes, and it cannot yet be answered, he said: How many protesters will come to Chicago?

“Attempts to shut down expressways, block intersections, engage in vandalism, all of that. We know that there are people who have those intentions. We don’t know how many,” Hopkins said. “If it’s 100, we are going to be fine. If it’s 50,000, you know, that is a real problem.”

While much of the pressure to keep protests peaceful has been on Johnson, Pritzker will also be a partial owner of the convention’s execution as he was a key player in attracting national Democrats to Illinois. Additionally, the governor has been in the spotlight this week as a potential running mate for Harris, among a deep bench of other popular Democratic leaders.

Asked about the possibility for unrest Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Pritzker said “all levels of law enforcement” are engaged and pivoted to optimism about the party’s energy inside the walls of the United Center, predicting that “it’s probably going to be the best convention ever.”

In an interview earlier this month, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said that the agency’s deployment will be the largest since the Chicago NATO summit in 2012. He declined to say exactly how many people would be involved in the convention specifically, but added ISP includes about 3,000 people and has the staff to work both the convention and its regular duties.

The possibility of mass arrests has already rippled through the local criminal justice system.

Cook County judges are scheduling around the convention, avoiding the dates on their calendars.

“The 19th is out. No cases are being set in this building,” Judge Kenneth Wadas said during a hearing Thursday morning as he scheduled a bench trial for early August. “We’ve been told to not do anything.”

Wadas said judges were additionally told to “keep it light” during the week of the 12th. He noted in court that another judge based in the Leighton Criminal Court Building had a jury trial moved to the branch court in Rolling Meadows.

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(Chicago Tribune’s Madeline Buckley contributed to this report.)

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