Activists arrested protesting Israel’s war on Gaza outside the Democratic National Convention on Monday have reported injuries from police violence that required hospitalization and a lack of access to attorneys or medication while in custody, according to legal observers and attorneys representing demonstrators, the Intercept reports. Chicago police arrested 13 individuals at demonstrations on Monday, according to the National Lawyers Guild Chicago, a nonprofit legal support organization. The majority of those taken into custody were participating in the main, permitted march that included about 3,500 protesters moving the several city blocks between Union Park and the United Center, where Democratic delegates gathered for the first day of the convention. During the march, some protesters breached a security fence but were quickly pushed back. Two other individuals were arrested on Sunday during a separate rally for transgender rights and abortion rights outside hotels in downtown Chicago where delegates were staying, the guild said.
Charges filed against protesters are largely misdemeanors, including criminal trespass, criminal damage to property, and one case of reckless conduct, the lawyers guild said. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, who heads the department, said Tuesday morning in a press conference that other charges include resisting arrest and obstructing an officer, as well as one aggravated battery of an officer. No officers were injured during demonstrations, Snelling said, while alleging some protesters used pepper spray on officers.
While Snelling praised his officers for having “showed great restraint,” two protesters were hospitalized due to injuries from arrests. In both cases, officers used force on protesters, said Matthew McLoughlin, who coordinates defense attorneys with the National Lawyers Guild. A third demonstrator was hospitalized after suffering a panic attack during an arrest. When officers brought her back to jail, McLoughlin said she was cuffed to a wall by her ankles with tight restraints, causing severe swelling to her joints. Attorneys had to intervene and request officers loosen the cuffs.
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