Karen wrote yesterday of the scene that occurred outside DNC Headquarters on Washington, DC’s Wednesday night. In case you missed it, here’s what it looked like.
BREAKING
The chaos outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington DC.
Law enforcement is removing, throwing down and arresting Ceasefire Advocates who were blocking the DNC’s building and protesting. pic.twitter.com/uCEsYGQt8L
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 16, 2023
There were a bunch of conflicting reports about this wish several people including at least one member of congress claiming protesters pepper sprayed police. Dave Weigel, a reporter who was at the scene of the incident, said that there were no signs of pepper spray being used by protesters. However police did use pepper spray against some protesters. There’s video of that happening so we know that much is true. The police statement also stated that six officers had been injured and police were pepper sprayed.
Some observers felt that the general scene reminded them of 1968’s Democratic Convention in Chicago. The fact that next year’s DNC Convention will also take place in Chicago is probably one reason some observers are feeling A bit nervous.
Wednesday’s flare-up in Washington, in which six police officers were injured and several lawmakers had to be evacuated from DNC headquarters, has raised concerns that the increasingly heated divide over the Israel-Gaza conflict could bring violent protests to Chicago.
“We have to anticipate that there’s a lot of tension and very passionate positions,” Rich Guidice is the chief of staff for the mayor and he’s helping to direct the logistics for the convention in 2024. “There’s ongoing training already taking place, specifically in de-escalation training.”…
“We’re used to these big events. We handle big demonstrations with negotiation and respect and make sure people stay nonviolent and peaceful,” A Chicago police officer who was not authorized to speak publicly said this. “We want to make sure people are able to exercise their First Amendment rights. That’s a top concern.”
The law is broken if it’s not done. “we respond accordingly.”
Next summer is a long way away and I’m not a fan of making predictions, but I do think it’s at least possible the convention could turn into a mess and here’s why. Recent polls have shown that the majority of Democrats are in favor of an Israeli ceasefire. I’m not sure it has dawned on all of those Democrats that Israel may not do what they want in these circumstances, but put that aside for a moment. Biden, Chuck Schumer and other leaders of the Democratic Party are more favorable to Israel’s point of view. are much more favorable to Israel’s point of view, at least so far. It seems that this is what led to the protests of last week when people took their anger out on the party.
It’s still a while until next summer. The Israeli operation in Gaza will probably last several more weeks, maybe even through the end of the year, but it won’t be still going on next August. Chicago will riot if this is the case. I do not think that things will still be riotous in Chicago by then.
But you never can tell. I heard someone on X ask a hypothetical: What happens if Israel declares a cessation of hostilities and Hamas then violates that ceasefire with rockets or other types of attacks? We all know Hamas will break any ceasefire that is eventually declared. That’s why Hamas exists. So it’s not impossible we could have a ceasefire in the winter followed by a few months of calm and then another Hamas attack next summer and we’re right back to where we are now. This is why I don’t make predictions. It’s impossible to predict a situation of this magnitude. Next summer, we might have riots about a totally different topic that no one has been focusing on.