Chicago Law Enforcement Trains Its Sights on DNC Protesters
Posted on August 17, 2024
UPDATE: Demonstrators have won a suit against the City of Chicago which now permits them to make use of a stage and sound amplification at Union Park. This is a substantial stride in preserving the exercise of free speech in the city. That said, this win is still no guarantee against a forceful response from law enforcement, nor against extensive surveillance of demonstrators.
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According to reporting from a number of sources, in anticipation of demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) starting tomorrow, Chicago law enforcement is creating a chilling free speech atmosphere by strictly limiting protected speech activities on public property and augmenting its enforcement capabilities. The preparatory measures are only the latest in the city’s (and nation’s) sordid history of assaults on First Amendment exercise expressing dissent.
First, coinciding with the run-up to the DNC, the city is reopening shuttered criminal justice facilities and shepherding dozens of judges through hasty training, in order to dramatically ramp up its ability to detain and prosecute. The conspicuous timing of the additional personnel and facilities is not lost on activists, who expect a heavy-handed response to their demonstrations.
Second, and of greater concern, the city has issued a ban on “the use of stages, platforms, portable restrooms, tents, canopies, and, most critically, sound equipment” during the week of the DNC. These prohibitions apply in the city’s public parks, and have not historically been imposed on other events put on by Chicago residents. The restrictions are of dubious legality in the face of First Amendment case law, as they limit activity which is legal on public property in most contexts.
Taken together, this creates an anti-speech climate reminiscent of the NATO conference in 2012, which was met not only with aggressive policing—notably the detention of NATO protesters at Chicago’s infamous Homan Square site—but also robust digital surveillance. Given this history of First Amendment crackdowns in Chicago, activists are justifiably wary of a NATO conference-style infringement on their constitutional rights.
Of course, the response to the NATO protests itself is not new, as it echoes the COINTELPRO surveillance program of the 1970s. The infiltration and monitoring of protected speech activities was so egregious that it was subject to a Congressional investigation now known as the Church Committee. The committee found that surveillance solely on the basis of First Amendment activity is unconstitutional. Sadly, American society has yet to reap the fruits of this landmark investigation, as surveillance methods of far greater reach and sophistication have haunted the exercise of civil liberties ever since.
You can read the sourcing for this article from CWBChicago here and Newsweek here.
