As the Democratic National Convention (DNC) came to a close on Thursday, the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is issuing a postmortem on the police response and the way in which the Chicago Police Department (CPD) facilitated the detention of dozens of protesters. Massive shows of force, brutality, and mass arrests define the police response to protests during the week. CPD conducted a total of 76 arrests from Sunday through Tuesday—two on Sunday, thirteen on Monday, 59 on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday—which resulted mainly in municipal citations for disorderly conduct, but also several people charged with misdemeanors, as well as four felonies. NLG Chicago received reports of several people who were injured as a result of the police melee on Tuesday outside the Israeli consulate. One protestor is in court process and all other protesters arrested this week were ordered released on their DNC related cases.
NLG Chicago received multiple reports throughout the week of arrested protesters needing hospitalization. Four hospitalizations resulted from police abuse, two of which were confirmed by the arrestees themselves, and two were confirmed by CPD Superintendent Snelling in press conferences. One person who was injured by Chicago police on Sunday during their arrest was taken to Insight Hospital, then held in the 1st District until they were released on Monday night. Another protester arrested on Monday was taken to Stroger Hospital, then held in the 12th District, where she was shackled by her legs and arms to a wall so tightly, it resulted in swelling in each of her joints. Two other protesters arrested on Monday needed critical medication during their detention and were hospitalized as a result. Members of NLG Chicago have independently confirmed each of these reports with the arrestees themselves.
During the week of protests, police made the decision to hold arrestees charged with municipal violations in custody for hours at a time, despite having the discretion to cite and release them in accordance with the Pretrial Fairness Act, a state law implemented in September 2023. NLG Chicago also received multiple reports of arrestees being questioned by detectives at Area 3, while lawyers were at the station waiting to meet with their clients.
Notably, NLG Chicago was often obstructed by police from tracking arrestees in custody, unnecessarily complicating a process that NLG Chicago was assured in the weeks prior to the convention would run smoothly. This occurred at district stations throughout the city, but especially at the 19th District at Belmont and Western, where the majority of arrestees were held. NLG Chicago was often unable to confirm arrestees in detention, denied timely access, and not allowed to have private attorney-client phone calls with arrestees in custody. These complications hampered efforts by NLG Chicago to ensure clients weren’t questioned, to check on their well-being, and publicly report accurate numbers of arrestees.
Throughout the week, NLG Chicago staffed a 24/7 hotline, tracked down 76 arrestees, and dispatched dozens of legal observers everyday to numerous actions to support everyone in the streets and parks fighting for justice.
