Chicago Demonstrations Drew Thousands, but Police Presence Seemed Nearly as Large

FIRST PERSON | CHICAGO -- Although there were scattered arrests in Chicago over the weekend, they seemed to be exception and not the rule. The city's police said only 93 demonstrators had been arrested as of Monday midday.

One arrest stood out in particular to me: The NATO 3 (Brent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla.; Jared Chase, 27, of Keene, N.H.; and Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), arrested after an undercover investigation that had been ongoing since May 1 and charged with plotting to use Molotov cocktails at Obama headquarters and to attempt to shoot an arrow through the window of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home

In the march after the gathering in Grant Park on Sunday, a protester (who would only give his name as "Taylor") was arrested for pushing the bicycle of a policeman against the officer's chest. Other protesters who attempted to rip down signs, for example, were often extracted from the crowd very quickly and isolated. Still, with the exception of the Black Bloc protesters who shielded their identity with black masks, most protesters did not attempt to cross the line, legally, during the protest marches, possibly because of the massive police presence in the downtown.

Demonstrators began flocking into the city from Occupy movements in all states. I spoke with Taylor Nimey of Occupy Seattle, who said 10 of them had come from Washington state. But policemen from all over Illinois also began training 3 months ago, to make sure that Chicago would not have a repeat performance of the 1968 DNC.

I was warned not to come into the city at all. My street (Indiana Ave) directly across from the Field Museum was blockaded at points, with 16 white police vans parked on Roosevelt Road Sunday afternoon. The Roosevelt Road Bridge was blocked except for dignitaries. Residents who live further up Indiana Avenue, closer to McCormick Place where the foreign dignitaries met, were told not to use their balconies.

As for my building, we received 11 pages of instructions, including road closings, which included a large part of Lake Shore Drive, Jackson, Roosevelt Road and I55N near the convention hall. Metro riders were warned not to carry a book bag, liquids, or any bag larger than 14 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Since I don't own a purse that shallow, the el and buses were out.

On Saturday night, an unpermitted protest march of the Occupy Chicago General Association began in front of the Chicago Federal Reserve building and marched to Jackson Boulevard and LaSalle Streets between 7 and 9 p.m. It was largely uneventful; troublemakers, if any, were isolated from the rest of the crowd.

On Sunday morning, 11,000 protesters, observers and interested onlookers gathered in Grant Park to hear Tom Morello of "Rage Against the Machine" play for approximately 30 minutes and to listen to various speakers, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson. The sound system was faulty, causing Morello to quit early. Famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"), now 90, was present with a camera person filming the protesters.

Veterans against the Iraq and Vietnam Wars were to give back medals won in battle on a flatbed truck stage provided by the city at Michigan and Cermak. This led to skirmishes, primarily with the group calling themselves the Black Bloc, who wore black kerchiefs across their faces and hurled sticks, buckets and other objects at police. Police remained calm. Incidents were few. The city provided buses for the veterans to be immediately transported to the train station to leave town. Sixty-three-year-old veteran Bill Homans, who records as Watermelon Slim, said, "I'm not getting' on any government bus." Slim was to sing that night at a club on 18^th Street.

The police presence was so heavy that, at times, the police seemed to outnumber the protesters, and they were backed up by the Secret Service. All in all, it was a far cry from other demonstrations and protests I have observed, in both enthusiasm and effectiveness.

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