CNN
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Workers in Chicago began setting up additional protective fencing early Tuesday outside the Democratic National Convention site, at the spot where protesters breached the perimeter fence a day earlier.
About a dozen workers installed a third row of fencing stretching east from the collapsed area on Washington Boulevard. The new fence sits between the two rows of fencing already in place.
The heightened security measures came a day after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators opposed to U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas broke away from a larger protest and breached a security fence near the United Center. The smaller group of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and held signs that read “Win the Palestinian Struggle!” and chanted, “Biden, Harris, you can’t hide, you’re funding genocide,” according to video from the scene.
‘I will no longer be a complicit party’: Protesters break through perimeter of Democratic National Convention
Four protesters were arrested, according to Chicago police.
“They breached the fence and got onto the perimeter. They were trying to get onto the inner perimeter and were shaking the fence on the other side,” Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters on Monday. “Officers responded quickly to stop that from happening.”
“Our job is to keep the DNC safe, keep our streets safe, keep our cities safe,” Snelling added. “I don’t know what they would have done if they were on the other side, but as I’ve said before, we will not tolerate anyone trying to destroy property in our city. We will not tolerate anyone trying to commit acts of violence.”
Snelling said he did not link the security breach to the protests as a whole. “There were people who just wanted to be heard, and they did. But part of that group decided to stand back and break through the fence and get to the other side, and we cannot allow that,” he said.
“At no time was the interior perimeter breached and there was no threat to any protected individuals,” the DNC Public Security Joint Information Center said in a statement.
Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker told CNN from the convention site that authorities had “a plan in place” and that the breach was brief. He said authorities respected the right to protest but “will not tolerate any disruption.”
“Frankly, that’s what will happen,” Pritzker said.
Monday’s pro-Palestinian demonstration was one of a number of protests linked to the Israeli-Hamas war planned for the four-day event, with authorities tightening security around the United Center in anticipation of large-scale demonstrations.
The protests are having other impacts, too: The Secret Service said Tuesday that a combination of protests in the area and two separate shuttle bus accidents caused significant delays to buses transporting protesters on Monday evening.
Democratic lawmakers have largely avoided discussing the war between Israel and Hamas, but President Joe Biden specifically mentioned the protests, saying his administration is working to achieve a ceasefire and end the war.
“The protesters in the streets are right,” he said. “Too many innocent people are being killed on both sides.”
