Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has offered protesters at the Democratic National Convention a route near the United Center to potentially settle a federal lawsuit which contends the city of Chicago is violating protesters’ First Amendment rights by blocking their plans to march within “sight and sound” of the convention hall.
The amended route 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 development was revealed Friday as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by a coalition of protest groups organizing the so-called “March on the DNC,” which is seeking an injunction blocking the city from confining protesters to Grant Park far from the convention site.
The march’s organizers celebrated the new route Friday, but vowed to keep fighting for a wider, longer route.
“It’s a win. But it’s not the win,” coalition spokesperson Hatem Abudayyeh told the Tribune. “Organizing works. You put a little pressure on the powers that be and you can move them.”
The concession had been expected: A lawyer for the city last month told U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood that city officials had received enough information from the U.S. Secret Service that the Johnson administration will be able to propose a “United Center-adjacent” route, though details were still being worked out behind the scenes.
The new proposed route was emailed to the plaintiffs on Thursday night, records show.
In a statement Friday, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Chris Williams, wrote that while the new proposal “reflects progress” and addresses some of the key First Amendment issues, they “still have some concerns” that they hope to resolve.
Those concerns were spelled out in an amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court Friday that alleged the new route uses too many smaller side streets that might not be able to accommodate the tens of thousands of expected marchers.
“While (the alternate route) resolves some of the issues raised in the original complaint, issues relating to the size of the route given the likely increase in the number of participants in the marches and issues related to the potential for log jams on a route that uses smaller side streets remain and will unconstitutionally impede on the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights,” the amended complaint stated.
Abudayyeh added that the route’s turns and side roads could lead to bottlenecks where brush-ups among marchers, counter-protesters and police could heighten tensions and spark issues.
One of the main issues has been the U.S. Secret Service’s security plan for the United Center, where along with McCormick Place much of the convention activity will occur, and particularly what exactly the security perimeter around the United Center will be.
In a hearing in early June, Wood granted additional time for briefing on the motion for a preliminary injunction, given the parties are “engaged in a good faith effort to try and resolve the matter” short of a ruling.
But she also warned that time was of the essence, and offered to help in the negotiations if need be.
“Obviously there is time sensitivity here,” Wood said. “The convention is set in stone — that date is not going to change.”
The lawsuit was one of at least two filed in U.S. District Court earlier this year after the city blocked protest permits requested near the United Center, which will serve as the convention hall for the DNC. The initial denials came despite Johnson’s promises that demonstrators will have a fair platform and security. Instead, the city initially offered each group the same two-block route through Grant Park — a proposal the groups alleged doesn’t fulfill their right to be within “sight and sound” of the convention.
“The tens of thousands of people that are coming — not only from the Midwest, but all across the country — will be marching on the DNC, permit or not,” Abudayyeh, who also serves as the executive director of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, one of the plaintiff groups, said at a news conference in April. Abudayyeh also said the coalition hopes to “make life miserable” for top congressional and White House Democrats.
Other plaintiff protest groups include the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Anti-War Committee and Students for a Democratic Society at UIC.
The plaintiffs’ memorandum filed last month specifically mentioned the desire to protest President Joe Biden’s policies regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Those protest plans could not be fulfilled with an off-site march, they argued.
“The plaintiffs seek to direct their political speech through peaceful marches to the president of the United States, the one person who could stop the suffering in Gaza with a single phone call, while he (is) at the DNC,” the filing stated. “(City officials), relying on its parade permit ordinance, have unconstitutionally denied plaintiffs and their members’ (the) right to engage in political speech through peaceful assembly on public forums, thereby violating their First Amendment rights.”
A second federal lawsuit filed by a consortium of activist groups is seeking a similar preliminary injunction against the city for denying a permit to protest on North Michigan Avenue during the convention. U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin is helping both sides attempt to negotiate an agreement behind the scenes, and the groups agreed to an alternate route last month.
The group is scheduled to march south along Michigan Avenue from Wacker Drive to the statue of Union Army Gen. John Logan near 9th Street on Aug. 18 at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, demonstrators have long signaled their aim to disrupt the convention, chasing after host committee Executive Director Christy George for months.
As George led a first-look United Center tour for media in January, a handful of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied outside.
In early February, her talk show appearance at The Hideout was repeatedly interrupted as more pro-Palestinian activists unfurled banners and flags. Weeks later, as she chatted inside the Union League Club, a 100-strong group rallied on the sidewalk to demand Democrats commit to spending federal money to solve Chicago’s homelessness issue.
