Pro-Palestinian protesters burn flags and clash with police during Democratic convention
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Pro-Palestinian protesters set fire to an American flag as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
At least 72 people were arrested after around 200 pro-Palestinian protesters – many dressed in black, with their faces covered – tried to break through a police line outside the city’s Israeli consulate.
Two American flags were burned during the demonstration. Witnesses claimed one flag was the Stars and Stripes and another was an American flag with the Star of David.
As Michelle and Barack Obama addressed delegates at the city’s United Center, officers, equipped with face shields and batons, tried to restore order.
Larry Snelling, the police superintendent, said: “We have people who showed up here to commit acts of violence. They wanted chaos.”
Mr Snelling said his officers had “shown restraint when no one else did” and “did an excellent job responding to violence and vandalism”.
A group called Behind Enemy Lines, a Leftist group with militant leanings, organised the rally, which had not been permitted by the city’s authorities.
Another group called Samidoun, which Germany and Israel have banned over allegations that it has ties to terrorist groups, was also behind the rally, according to NBC News.
Writing on Instagram after the protests, Behind Emily Lines said dozens of people had been “brutally arrested outside the Israeli consulate by Brandon Johnson’s thugs defending the genocidal criminals inside the DNC,” referring to the mayor of Chicago.
The group wrote: “Protesters gathered in front of the Zionist Israeli consulate to denounce the US-Israel genocide on Gaza. While the criminals orchestrating that genocide were gathered less than two miles away, the CPD [Chicago Police Department] waged a ferocious assault on free speech.”
Tuesday night was the second day protesters clashed with police. Thousands of protesters showed up for the Coalition to March on Monday, the first day of the DNC.
Pro-Palestinian leaders representing Monday’s mostly peaceful march on the Democratic convention said they were not associated with Tuesday’s rally.
A small group of pro-Israel demonstrators also gathered on Tuesday.
Elan Carr, the chief executive of the Israeli-American Council, condemned the pro-Palestinian protesters, calling them “fringe crazies” and demanding that US leaders “stand unequivocally with the state of Israel”.
The protest began outside the Israeli consulate, which was barricaded and protected by police on bicycles, at around 7pm.
The group later marched into a line of police down the road, with protesters reportedly throwing signs and physically clashing with the officers.
“These are the enemy of the people, and we must move on these m-----------,” the leader of the protest is understood to have said.
The Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest said it was “appalled to see violence during the protest in front of our offices. This is anything but peaceful and completely contradictory to the spirit of the DNC. This vocal minority does not represent the vast bipartisan majority of Americans who stand strong in support of Israel.”
