CHICAGO — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability that tracks complaints against the city’s police department said that among the thousands of protesters at the convention, so far eight have filed complaints.
Each complaint can have multiple alleged violations. Two allege excessive force and two others allege civil rights violations. The vast majority are operation and personnel violations, like missing a piece of a uniform or covering up a name badge.
The National Lawyers Guild observes police during protests, document arrests and volunteers to represent those arrested pro-bono.
“While the superintendent might celebrate what he perceives as protecting the First Amendment, we at the NLG saw numerous examples of behavior by the police that we found to be problematic and unconstitutional,” said volunteer attorney Brad Thomson.
Thomson said the peak of the organization’s concern came Tuesday when police declared a mass arrest outside the Israeli Consulate and they say protesters began attacking officers.
“We saw those police in massive numbers surround the crowd, corral the crowd and prevent people from being able to leave,” Thomson said.
Dozens of people were arrested that night, including three members of the press.
The Democratic National Convention in Chicago concluded Thursday night with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the party’s nomination to the land’s highest office.
DNC Highlights:
Chicago has hosted Democrats 12 times, the last being nearly 30 years ago when President Bill Clinton was nominated for a second term.
WGN Cover Story: Why Chicago has hosted more presidential conventions than any other city.