A federal judge is expected to hand down a key ruling by early next week in a months-long dispute between City Hall and groups promising a massive protest during Chicago’s upcoming Democratic National Convention.
U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood heard roughly two hours of arguments Monday while considering a request for her intervention in a conflict over where those protesters will be allowed to march during the convention, which begins Aug. 19.
The groups first sought permits back in January to march “within sight and sound” of the United Center over the Israel-Hamas war. On Monday, their attorneys predicted that up to 25,000 people could participate.
City Hall previously tried to steer the protests three miles east of the United Center, to Columbus Drive in Grant Park. Then, in early June, city attorney Andrew Worseck told Wood it planned to offer a route that is “United Center adjacent.”
Two months later, the groups are still dissatisfied. They’ve asked Wood to force the city to adjust further. But Worseck insisted that City Hall has already engaged with the protest groups, made adjustments and adequately accommodated them.
“We’re now two weeks away from the convention,” Worseck told the judge. “The city is entitled to put down its pen.”
The groups suing over the protest route include the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Anti-War Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and the United States Palestinian Community Network.
City Hall has offered a parade route that begins at Union Park and follows Washington west to Hermitage, then north to Maypole, west to Park 578 and then to Damen, north to Lake Street and then concludes back at Union Park.
Christopher Williams, an attorney for the protest groups, argued the turns onto Hermitage and Maypole will create a log jam that will bring the march “to a stand still.” He argued that the march should be allowed to continue west on Washington to Oakley or Western.
The city says the parade can’t continue along Washington because fencing for the security perimeter around the United Center will likely be erected somewhere in that street, creating a potential safety hazard.
“Washington simply is not workable,” Worseck said in court Monday. “It is physically not possible. It is not safe.”
Williams insisted it’s still not clear exactly where that perimeter fencing will be erected — and Wood zeroed in on that as the key point of contention near the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.
The judge promised to issue a written ruling “as soon as possible.” She then said she’d schedule another status hearing in the case for a date “between when I expect to issue that ruling and the actual start of the DNC.”
Wood scheduled that hearing for Aug. 13 — less than one week before the convention is set to begin.