Will Chicago Become A War Zone?

Leftwing Radicals Pledge To Kill Kamala's Campaign

Will the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week face a well-managed series of polite, if messy protests? Or will the city become a war zone?

Things are quickly heating up in Chicago. Nervous Democrats are wondering if the city might come under siege by swarms of pro-Palestinian protesters and/or if they will face riots by extremists - with the explicit goal of defeating Kamala Harris. Public estimates are that between 30,000 to 50,000 protesters are expected to enter the city.

A vast coalition comprising of more than 200 Palestinian, Marxist, anti-imperialist and progressive organizations have signed on to join the “March on the DNC 2024” which is planning marches and rallies between August 19 and 21.

Meanwhile, Chicago authorities have opened a defunct courthouse to streamline arrests and have cleared 30 additional courtrooms if there are mass arrests, according to NewsNation.

The city has postponed all criminal jury trials scheduled for next week and “criminal judges from other divisions of Cook County have been asked to clear their calendars in case they need to be called into action to help process those arrested,” according to the news channel.

The convention grounds now are officially considered a “national special security event.” This means the Secret Service will oversee security inside the convention grounds.

The security  size of the massive police perimeter  around the DNC "is based off a bomb assessment and blast radius," according to Chicago police Deputy Chief of Counter-Terrorism Duane DeVries.

The Chicago Tribune reports today that the city has inflamed the protesters who “are crying foul after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issued last-minute denials of requests to set up stages and sound systems for rallies in parks near the United Center.” The United Center is the main hall for the Democratic delegates.

Further upsetting the radicals was Tuesday’s federal court decision by U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood, an Obama appointee.  She denied any additional new permits for the protesters to get them to the convention hall. She upheld the city’s limitations on the demonstrators.

The protester’s lawyer has warned the judge’s negative ruling is going to spark “chaos” in the city.

Hatem Abudayyeh, a Palestinian radical and the spokesman for the “March on the DNC,” was evasive on Tuesday about whether they would forcefully expand their presence near the convention. 

He told the Chicago Sun-Times after the judge’s verdict, that he “could not say whether the protest groups would abide by Wood’s decision.”

The crowds are believed to be at a minimum, unruly and at worst, riotous. The single largest part of the coalition, of course, are scores of radical Palestinian solidarity committees, which uniformly call for the end to Israel.  

The march’s organizational leadership is a Who’s Who of well-known militant groups throughout the United States including Code Pink, Democratic Socialists of America and ANSWER.

But there also is a fringe feeling to the coalition, which includes such seemingly antiquated ‘60’s groups as the All Afrikan-People’s Revolutionary Party, the Malcom X Center for Self-Determinations, Denver Communists, and the Proletariat Representation USA. There are plenty of fringe groups listed by the coalition.

Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to stop demonstrations actually inside the United Center where the delegates are scheduled to meet.  According to the New York Times, “as of now, the delegates are still planning to make their presence at the proceedings known, threatening the overwhelming display of unity that Democrats hope to project heading into the fall campaign.”

Social media posts show that the “March on the DNC” will bring together pro-Palestinian Islamicists with self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninists, anti-imperialists, anarchists as well as some progressive groups. All are determined to viciously denounce Harris and the Democratic Party.

Ryan Mauro, a decades-long expert of extremist groups who is with the non-profit research group, the Capital Research Center, says the really interesting development in today’s radical world is about how “the era of the selfie” can excite and motivate activists to do crazy things.

“Don’t underestimate the power of the selfie,” he told me in an interview. 

“It’s apparent when you see their social media accounts, the majority of these participants are young,” he continued. “They want to look to their peers of influence, that they’re willing to sacrifice for a cause, and in their mind, show how righteous they are by acting as aggressively as possible and creating as much of a public display of martyrdom as possible - without getting killed of course - because then you can’t later enjoy Instagram ‘likes.’

“They want to enjoy the aftermath, and the pictures and the praise and being the ‘cool one’ in their social circle,” he notes.

Mauro adds another observation: that the alliance between Islamicists and radical Marxists is a new and a potentially dangerous development and next week this alliance will be seen on full display throughout Chicago.

“I can’t think of another time in recent years when the Islamicists network and basically the entirety of the Marxist-Leninist and anarchist networks have come forth and shown themselves.  So, we have an actual identifiable multi-layered network.”

I clearly remember the “street energy” of radical protests when I was one myself in the 1970’s.  I was the roommate with Chicago 8 defendant Rennie Davis who was a New Left leader during the 1968 riots in Chicago.

Later I was a member with Rennie on the May Day Collective that organized mass civil disobedience in Washington, D.C. in 1971. Thousands were arrested. I’ve become more conservative over time but vividly recall the energy and excitement of that era.

So my impression is that street war does seem to be in the offing in Chicago.  

Based on both the character of the coalition and on their rhetoric, this is one very mean group of people.

“For at least six months radical leftwing and pro-Palestinian activists have routinely called President Biden, “Genocide Joe” over his Israeli policies.

Now they are calling Kamala Harris, the apparent Democratic Presidential candidate, “Killer Kamala.” 

And that’s the polite part.  

One particularly menacing radical group coming to Chicago is called “Behind the Lines.”  It openly expresses a willingness to use violence in the name of “resistance.” 

They write on their website, “We envision a resistance that is willing to break through the police barricades, both metaphorically and physically.”

Their war cry to the masses is: “Escalate for Gaza! Shut down the DNC!”

Behind the Lines also challenges the idea that protests should be peaceful and safe.

“All of this begs the question: Who says protesting should be safe,” they ask on their website.

“Let’s be fucking serious here: why do people in the US have the right to prioritize their own safety? How is any protest going to be successful if it doesn’t challenge and disrupt business as usual to disturb the normal functioning of a society that is aiding and abetting a genocide? And why should any of that be safe,” they ask. 

This brings me to Saul Alinsky, a New Left radical who was our political guru in the 1970’s. He advised activists in his 1971 book titled “Rules for Radicals.” I have a four-part series on Alinsky on Substack.

“Rules” is still the handbook for today’s pro-Palestinian radicals who, as the Wall Street Journal reported, are being advised by many aging New Left radicals.

Disturbingly, Alinsky makes it clear that tactics can be very fluid, depending on your circumstances. He particularly notes that morality and ethics are elastic when it comes to making revolutionary history.

“You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments,” he advises radical leaders.

Alinsky is quite clear that flexibility is important during “the struggle.” He writes, “If weapons are needed, then are appropriate weapons available? Availability of means determines whether you will be underground or above ground; whether you will move quickly or slowly; whether you will move for extensive changes or limited adjustments; whether you will move by passive resistance or active resistance; or whether you will move at all”

The March on DNC’s rhetoric isn’t much different than Behind the Lines. Its main web site is filled with unremitting anger towards the Democratic Party.  ‘We recognize the Democratic Party as a tool of billionaires and corporations,” the coalition statement begins.

They continue: “Their actions, such as financing genocide in Palestine and war in multiple countries; continuing the mass incarceration of Black and brown people; deporting millions of immigrants; and neglecting campaign promises made to the oppressed communities who represent their voting base, show that the Democratic Party only serves the agenda of the rich and powerful.”

The coalition’s opposition to Harris is clear. Abudayyeh, the coalition’s spokesman, said the switch to Harris “doesn't change the policies of Democratic Party leadership, specifically their support of the genocide in Palestine, so our movement must continue to apply pressure."

He added, "When it comes to the genocide in Gaza there is no difference between Biden, Harris, or any of the likely candidates for the nomination. They are all complicit. This is why the coalition will still be marching on the DNC in the tens of thousands."

The Democratic establishment now is in a quandary.  They know they can’t fulfill the radical’s agenda.  But dissing them also could cost them the election.

Mauro notes that these anti-imperialist, Marxist and pro-Palestinian activists were never part of the Democratic party. “The reality is, they were never part of the Biden-Harris base to begin with.  And they cannot be won over.  Their demands are too high.”

The protesters, he says, “want to give an impression that this is a segment of the Democratic voting base that was lost because of Biden and Harris being too moderate and especially for being too supportive of Israel.” From a sterile political calculation, he says these are voters they never had and will never have.

Nevertheless, the image of violence in the streets and disruption among the delegates could both spoil the sense of political unity of the party and could permanently end Harris’ political momentum.

So today, the Democrats can’t count out a person like Jae Yates, 31, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. His coalition is a progressive Minnesota group that operates in the state governed Vice President-designate Tim Walz.

Ordinarily, Yates should be a pretty ardent supporter of the ticket.  But instead, he plans to bring two busloads of protesters to the Chicago anti-Democratic Party march.

“People feel more betrayed by the Democratic Party because Republicans have sort of always been naked in their support for war and repression abroad,” Yates said to the Chicago Sun-Times. “But the Democratic Party has been promising people for years to do so many things that they’ve never delivered on ... I think people are exhausted and sick of the runaround from the Democrats.” 

Will it 2024 become 1968?  The Olympics are over. So, America probably will be watching.