Hundreds of extra law enforcement officials are heading into Chicago, Illinois, for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) as city officials beef up security due to safety concerns surrounding the event.
An estimated 50,000 people are slated to attend the convention, along with “thousands of protesters,” ABC News reported Saturday.
“Our plan is to make sure we keep everyone within the city safe. We want this to be successful,” Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said of the event, which starts on Monday.
Businesses have already begun boarding up their storefronts due to anticipated violence in the coming week, Breitbart News reported.
Chicago businesses board up before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in fear of mass riots. (Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News)
“As we know, this city has a poor track record when it comes to protecting businesses,” Scott Shapiro, owner of the menswear shop Syd Jerome, told WLS-TV.
“We felt it was more prudent to board up since our customers and their employers have told them to stay home throughout the convention for their own safety,” he added.
WATCH: Chicago Business Boards Up in Anticipation of DNC Riots
Recent events have substantiated the business owners’ fears.
Just days after the city was selected as the site for the 2024 convention in April 2023, massive groups of teenagers took to the streets to rob, fight, and shoot for several days:
🚨#BREAKING: Chaotic Scene Unfolds in Downtown Chicago as Teenagers Vandalize Cars and Gunfire Erupts
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 16, 2023
📌#Chicago | #Illinois ⁰
There is currently a significant police response taking place in downtown Chicago due to a large group of teenagers causing chaos. They have been… pic.twitter.com/n7xhBpsTKs
The youths’ violence continued for several nights, leaving lasting damage to the local community and each other, Breitbart News reported.
Then-Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson (D) stressed how important it was not to”demonize” the teens who participated in the rioting:
— Brandon Johnson (@Brandon4Chicago) April 16, 2023
The city has a shocking pattern of condoning violent unrest, as the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) rioters looted, vandalized, and shot up Chicago businesses and neighborhoods.
Local BLM organizers defended the looting, calling it “reparations.”
Similarly, on Christmas Eve 2023, pro-Palestinian protesters targeted the homes of local lawmakers and shut down Interstate 90 — the key artery connecting Chicago to O’Hare International Airport — in both directions.
In June, pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized the city’s Buckingham Fountain by dyeing the water red and spray-painting messages like “Gaza is bleeding” on it.
While large protests are expected to occur around the DNC, Snelling said Chicago is better prepared to handle them than it was in 2020.
Saying that law enforcement leadership has been doing extra training for more than a year and that additional police resources will be pulled in from across the state, the police superintendent emphasized, “We have a city to protect.”
“The Chicago Police Department will be in every single neighborhood protecting the neighborhoods so we will not deplete resources from our neighborhoods,” he added.
