Protesters flood DNC site in Chicago, voicing outrage over Gaza genocide

Thousands of protesters have marched toward the site of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on its opening day to voice their opposition to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, as Chicago officials said they were committed to keeping the demonstrations peaceful.

Protesters, who marched on Monday, said their plans have not changed since President Joe Biden left the race and the party quickly rallied behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who will formally accept the Democratic nomination this week. Activists said they were ready to amplify their progressive message before the nation's top Democratic leaders.

"We have to play our part in the belly of the beast to stop the genocide, to end US aid to Israel and stand with Palestine," said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, which includes hundreds of organisations.

Protesters marched along a mile-long route ending at a park near the United Centre, where the convention is being held, as hundreds of police officers lined the streets.

The heavy police presence at the march included Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, who walked in a group of officers ahead of the protesters.

'We charge you with genocide'

"Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide," they chanted amid the beating of drums. "Harris, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide."

Organisers said they hoped the turnout for Monday’s rally and march would be at least 20,000 people.

The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the US.

Taylor Cook, an organiser with the Freedom Road Socialist Organisation, travelled from Atlanta for the march. Cook said the group was pushing all Democrats to call for an end to aid to Israel, with a particular focus on Harris.

"We’re saying to Kamala, she has been complicit in this. People think it’s just Joe Biden, but she is vice president," Cook said. "So we’re saying, you need to stop if you want our vote."

Medea Benjamin, who traveled to Chicago from Washington, DC, with a women-led group of protesters calling for peace, said she was shocked that the Biden administration recently approved an additional $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel.

"There’s an incredible discrepancy in what people are calling for in this country and what the administration is doing," she said ahead of the rally in Union Park. "We’re so disgusted by this."

Activists say they learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. They expect bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago.

Pro-Palestinian supporters descended on the park, west of the Loop business district, for the rally.

Prior to the march, independent presidential candidate Cornel West addressed the crowd, which welcomed him with cheers.

"This is not about some Machiavellian politics or some utilitarian calculation about an election," he yelled into a microphone. "This is about morality. This is about spirituality."

Around 40 pro-Israel supporters walked around the park during the rally. Remaining mostly silent while waving Israeli flags, they were accompanied by about 20 police officers on bicycles. Although tensions flared at times, there were no physical altercations.

Protester issues include climate crisis, abortion rights and racial equality, to name a few, but many agree that pressing for an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war is the top message of the demonstrations.

They have likened it to the Vietnam War of their generation.

Chicago, which has hosted more political conventions than any other US city, has been unable to escape comparisons to the infamous 1968 convention where police and anti-Vietnam War protesters violently clashed on live television.

Some businesses boarded up their windows as a precaution, and county courts said they would open more space in case of mass arrests. Chicago police say officers have undergone extensive training on constitutional policing and de-escalation tactics.

Also Monday, the Philadelphia-based Poor People’s Army, which advocates for economic justice, planned to set up at Humboldt Park on the city's northwest side to feature events with third-party presidential candidates Jill Stein and West, plus a 5-kilometre march.

"The First Amendment is fundamental to our democracy," Johnson, a former union organiser, told The Associated Press in an interview last week. "I’ll do everything in my power to protect the right to assemble in protest."