Police are investigating an incident where maggots were dropped Wednesday into the breakfast at the Fairmont Chicago, where the 88 Indiana delegates were invited to eat ahead of the day’s events at the Democratic National Convention.
Multiple females entered a building in the 200 block of N. Columbus Dr., where the Fairmont Chicago is located, at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday and began placing unknown objects onto tables containing food before leaving the building, according to a statement from the Democratic National Convention 2024 Joint Information Center.
One person was treated and released on-scene, according to the statement. The Chicago Police Department and the FBI Chicago are investigating the incident.
Former State. Sen. Karen Tallain, D-Ogden Dunes, and one of Indiana’s delegates, said the delegates at the hotel talked all morning about how maggots were dropped into the food.
Tallian said she heard that a couple of protestors hid in the hotel bathrooms, rushed out when breakfast was laid out, dumped maggots on the food, and ran away.
“So we were a little late this morning. There were a lot of police, security investigating. But everybody is fine. It was just a delay,” Tallian said. “Nobody was worse for wear.”
Hotel staff and Indiana Democratic Party volunteers responded quickly to clean and sanitize the area, Tallian said.
Breakfast was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to an Indiana Democratic Party news release.
Indiana Democratic Party spokesman Sam Barloga said the safety of its delegates is the party’s top priority.
“All Americans have the right to peaceful protest, but ugly attacks like this have no place in our democracy. We thank the security team for responding swiftly,” Barloga said.
Fairmont Chicago officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The incident feels like an attempt at a protest or expression of political views, Tallian said, but it fell short of making an impact.
“It just seemed like a stupid prank,” Tallian said. “It seems to me that it can be done in a better way than that.”
State Sen. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, one of the delegates, said when he arrived for breakfast Wednesday he was told to go straight into the third-floor conference room without stopping at the buffet-style breakfast set up in the hallway.
“We had to go into the meeting first, then we could get food after they replaced it,” Smith said.
Smith said he had to wait about 30 minutes before getting food. As he waited, Smith said he heard from other delegates that maggots were dropped into the food earlier in the morning.
Throughout the morning, there were four or five police officers on the third floor of the hotel, Smith said.
“We had a lot of security outside our hotel today than we had the other days,” Smith said.
akukulka@post-trib.com
