Noting campus protests, Democrats are preparing for intense action at their summer convention
WASHINGTON — As pro-Palestinian demonstrations escalate on college campuses across the country, critics of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israeli-Hamas war suggest this summer’s Democratic National Convention could be hit by protests and scenes of chaos that undermine his reelection campaign.
More than 65 organizations in Chicago and elsewhere have already formed a coalition for the March on the DNC when it kicks off there on August 19. Activists have filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging First Amendment violations because the city has only offered permits for demonstrations. miles away from the United Center, where Biden will accept the Democratic presidential nomination.
Protesters preparing for the convention have vowed to march there anyway, raising the specter of clashes with police that could undermine Biden and further divide the Democratic base. They think the campus demonstrations — and broad Democratic condemnation of the war — will fuel their efforts.
Some suggest the August gathering could resemble the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, where a violent police crackdown on anti-Vietnam War protesters created indelible scenes of chaos, widely blamed for weakening the eventual party nominee. Hubert Humphrey.
“The DNC will likely become a flashpoint as these movements will continue to escalate,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive activist group Our Revolution. “I could see a repeat of 1968 unless the administration makes a course correction.”
National Democrats say they are prepared to keep the convention on track and limit disruptions.
“There will be people at this convention and it wouldn’t be a surprise to any of us if they were very visible,” said Lavora Barnes, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, who added: “I don’t think there is of any weakness. by allowing people to exercise their First Amendment free speech.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said keeping protesters away from the convention grounds is about ensuring “optimal security” while protecting people’s constitutional rights. He came back to the idea that this summer will be like 1968.
“I am not the mayor of the city of Chicago if a generation ago, and a generation before that, I didn’t protest,” said Johnson, a former union organizer who is Black. “I want to assure people that it is not 1968. I am not the mayor of 1968.”
Many campus protesters have focused more on individual universities than on White House policies. One of the common demands is that they push their schools to end investments in support of the Israeli army.
“We can go to the White House at any time (and) scream our lungs out, but what’s going to change?” asked Raf Hawa, 25, a student protester at George Washington University in Washington. “The universities, their purpose is to listen and understand.”
Yet protesters have followed Biden’s events for months, labeling him “Genocide Joe.” In George Washington, fliers shouted “Come November, We’ll Remember” over a sinister likeness of Biden.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released in February found that only 31% of American adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats.
Faayani Aboma Mijana, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, sees a foreshadowing of the unrest on campus and what could unfold in Chicago, though he emphasized that the demonstrations will be family-friendly. Mijana said national Democrats waiting for emotions to dissipate once colleges pause for the summer are misguided.
“People are just getting angrier,” Mijana said, adding: “I think it’s wishful thinking on their part to think this will go away. Our coalition will not make it go away. We keep pushing.”
In 1968, more than 10,000 demonstrators opposing the Vietnam War and various other causes held large demonstrations near the convention grounds and throughout Chicago. Police and National Guard responded with force, sparking clashes that are better remembered than the nomination of Humphrey, who lost to incumbent President Richard Nixon that fall.
Columbia University students that year occupied the same building, Hamilton Hall, that pro-Palestinian protesters briefly occupied in New York before police cleared the building last week and arrested dozens. On Monday, Columbia canceled the university-wide commencement scheduled for next week.
However, Sean Wilentz, professor of history at Princeton University and campus activist at Columbia and in 1968 also in Chicago, noted that the Vietnam War and its design affected many more Americans than the current conflict in Gaza, and that the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy only added to the civil unrest.
“The divisions in the country were deep in ’68 in a way that they are not now,” said Wilentz, who has advised Biden throughout his presidency.
Authorities insist they are prepared in ways unthinkable in 1968. The convention has been designated as a special national security event, allowing officials to call on the Defense Department if necessary. The U.S. Secret Service says teams in Chicago have been “preparing a complex security plan for months with the full weight of federal, state and city government” and that city police are receiving training in anticipation of major demonstrations.
Congress also approved $75 million to cover security costs for Chicago and Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention is taking place. Demonstrators are expected in Milwaukee, although presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has not provoked mass protests this year.
And while protests have been a fixture at both parties’ conventions in recent cycles, the demonstrations did not lead to the bloodshed of 1968 — even when Democrats returned to Chicago in 1996.
“When the country looks to Chicago in August, the unity and excitement of Democrats will be in stark contrast to the chaos and extremism within the Republican Party,” said Matt Hill, a spokesman for the Democratic National Convention.
DNC Vice Chairman Ken Martin said support for Biden remains strong and that some look at campus protests and see “a much deeper problem than it actually is.”
“We clearly have disagreements within our party on critical issues,” said Martin, who also heads the Democratic Party in Minnesota. “But dissent and debate are hallmarks of the Democratic Party, and we will not allow those divisions to drive us in.”
Biden has condemned the violent protests. Top Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who accepted the Republican nomination weeks before Democrats convene, have pointed to examples of anti-Semitic chants and blamed Democratic-run cities for failing to restore order.
Trump has made concerns about crime central to his campaign, linking the issue to illegal immigration and accusing Biden of allowing an “invasion” of the country. His messages are another echo of 1968, when Nixon promised to restore “law and order.”
The Biden administration is still working to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and for Hamas to release surviving hostages from the Oct. 7 attack, which could undermine the rationale for the August protests.
The White House has also condemned anti-Semitism and sought to reassure some American Jews who worry about their safety and criticize the protests on campus. But it has faced significant dissent from key constituencies — Arab-American voters and younger voters who are generally more skeptical of U.S. support for Israel — that show no signs of going away.
“There is widespread discontent among progressive voters, young people, people of color and the progressive voting bloc, and he needs that to win,” said Geevarghese, head of activist group Our Revolution. “I’m not sure the government fully recognizes the danger leading up to the convention and the optics that could be created.”
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Associated Press reporter Sophia Tareen contributed from Chicago.