By Mike Heuer
An aerial photo shows the United Center in Chicago where the 2024 Democratic National Convention starts Monday and ends on Aug. 22.
Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A planned protest expected to draw thousands of participants during the Democratic National Convention will have to use the current route provided Chicago officials, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. Northern Illinois District Judge Andrea Wood ruled the current route near the convention's site at the United Center enables protesters to "speak near their intended audience" and does not violate their First Amendment rights.
Wood said the lawsuit ultimately regards the protest organizers not getting the "exact route" they wanted during the DNC event that runs from Monday through Aug. 22.
"This falls well short of a First Amendment violation," Wood wrote in a 24-page ruling.
She said Chicago officials have a significant interest in keeping the protesters under control to ensure event security and safety for its participants.
"The need to maintain an accessible route to and from the United Center in case of emergency constitutes a separate significant governmental interest," Wood wrote.
Wood also cited the potential for injury to protesters as a factor in maintaining a reasonable distance from the United Center.
Workers are erecting an iron fence around the United Center and McCormick Place complex in Chicago to help thwart any potential political violence.
"Allowing a crowd of that size ... to march directly alongside an unyielding barrier -- no matter how much of the street is available for pedestrian use -- poses an obvious risk of injury," Wood wrote.
Chicago Police Superintended Larry Snelling on Monday said the police won't allow protesters to come to Chicago and "destroy the city."
Protest organizers filed the federal lawsuit seeking to amend the route so they could get closer to the United Center and to enable potentially thousands of protesters to participate.
The current route running from Chicago's Union Park to the city's Park 578 is too short and winds too much, which would create a "log jam" for tens of thousands of protesters, U.S.-Palestinian Community Network chair Hatem Abudayyeh said.
Protest organizers estimate 25,000 protesters will converge on the event and said the approved route would cause congestion problems, but Wood cited safety as a significant factor in her ruling.
City officials initially offered a protest route in Grant Park that is located 3 miles from the United Center but in June changed the route to make it adjacent to the United Center.
The approved route enables protesters to gather at Union Park on Chicago's near-west side and proceed on a route that takes them along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue and past a small park near the United Center before turning east onto Lake Street and heading back to Union Park.
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The protest organizers want a wider and longer route that would enable them to stay on Washington Boulevard longer and hold a rally close to the United Center
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A planned protest expected to draw thousands of participants during the Democratic National Convention will have to use the current route provided Chicago officials, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. Northern Illinois District Judge Andrea Wood ruled the current route near the convention's site at the United Center enables protesters to "speak near their intended audience" and does not violate their First Amendment rights.
Wood said the lawsuit ultimately regards the protest organizers not getting the "exact route" they wanted during the DNC event that runs from Monday through Aug. 22.
"This falls well short of a First Amendment violation," Wood wrote in a 24-page ruling.
She said Chicago officials have a significant interest in keeping the protesters under control to ensure event security and safety for its participants.
"The need to maintain an accessible route to and from the United Center in case of emergency constitutes a separate significant governmental interest," Wood wrote.
Wood also cited the potential for injury to protesters as a factor in maintaining a reasonable distance from the United Center.
Workers are erecting an iron fence around the United Center and McCormick Place complex in Chicago to help thwart any potential political violence.
"Allowing a crowd of that size ... to march directly alongside an unyielding barrier -- no matter how much of the street is available for pedestrian use -- poses an obvious risk of injury," Wood wrote.
Chicago Police Superintended Larry Snelling on Monday said the police won't allow protesters to come to Chicago and "destroy the city."
Protest organizers filed the federal lawsuit seeking to amend the route so they could get closer to the United Center and to enable potentially thousands of protesters to participate.
The current route running from Chicago's Union Park to the city's Park 578 is too short and winds too much, which would create a "log jam" for tens of thousands of protesters, U.S.-Palestinian Community Network chair Hatem Abudayyeh said.
Protest organizers estimate 25,000 protesters will converge on the event and said the approved route would cause congestion problems, but Wood cited safety as a significant factor in her ruling.
City officials initially offered a protest route in Grant Park that is located 3 miles from the United Center but in June changed the route to make it adjacent to the United Center.
The approved route enables protesters to gather at Union Park on Chicago's near-west side and proceed on a route that takes them along Washington Boulevard to Hermitage Avenue and past a small park near the United Center before turning east onto Lake Street and heading back to Union Park.
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The protest organizers want a wider and longer route that would enable them to stay on Washington Boulevard longer and hold a rally close to the United Center
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