'Powder keg': Massive security presence on display in Chicago amid signs of trouble

CHICAGO — Local and national law enforcement officials are ready for battle ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention, and their presence is, seemingly, everywhere on the ground and water and in the air.

While national party leaders, local officials and the thousands of delegates descending on Chicago are hoping for peace, everyone is braced for violence.

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Tens of thousands of protesters are expected in Chicago’s streets this week, ranging from far-left Gaza advocates to — potentially — far-right supporters of former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

“I'm seeing the signs of that being a powder keg right now,” John Booras — a former police officer in Chicago’s suburbs and current candidate for U.S. House Illinois District 3 — told Raw Story.

Powder keg or not, Chicago Police — aided by dozens of other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies — are making their presence known at most every turn.

On Saturday and Sunday, Raw Story reporters walked and rode their way through Chicago for a first-hand look at how police were preparing.

For the past couple days, tourists visiting the city’s iconic Magnificent Mile — a street that boasts the likes of Gucci, Cartier and Armani — have been greeted with large patrols of roving bicycle officers and a heavier police presence than what’s typical for the glitzy main drag.

Joining the bike cops are motorcycle cops, horse cops and yes, boat cops on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.

Overnight, while those tourists were sleeping — or clubbing — the city’s security apparatus quickly expanded, as concrete and steel barriers were erected in several key areas where Democratic National Convention activities are scheduled.

Three miles south of downtown — just past Grant Park (home of Lollapalooza), the Field Museum (home of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex on record) and Soldier Field (home of da Bears!) — is the McCormick Place Convention Center where the party is throwing a public "DemPalooza" fest for those without official convention credentials.

It’s locked down, Chicago-style.

It’s off-season for the city’s expansive fleet of intimidatingly large, rusty and seemingly immovable snowplows, so they’re being deployed as an extra layer of security — on top of the other extra layers of security — on the city’s snowless summer streets.

All the seemingly makeshift security upgrades from the Chicago Police Department have an ominous feeling about them to Booras, who was working as a part-time police officer in suburban Chicago during the George Floyd protests in 2020.

"When you have to create borders that are two blocks away … we didn't have these precautions, even back then. We weren't afraid of people the way that CPD and security is afraid of what's coming now,” Booras said. "Where there's smoke, there's fire. For them to do this, there are credible threats coming through."

But snowplows can only cover the square footage they occupy and law enforcement wants to be everywhere. And they will be with the assist of security cameras, drones, helicopters and air quality sensors.

While many delegates are staying downtown in and around McCormick Place, the convention itself is some three miles away from Chicago’s lakefront at the United Center — home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks — which has also been fortified in recent days.

Sunday law enforcement officials were seen circling the United Center in a helicopter whose doors were ominously open.

With this year’s Democratic National Convention stretched across the city, there are also troops of bike cops out by the United Center, along with many long gun-wielding federal agents.

The attempt on Trump’s life last month ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is still fresh on the minds of all the officers assembled in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to accept her party’s nomination on Thursday.

President Joe Biden, who withdrew from the race in mid-July, is scheduled to speak at the convention Monday. Thousands of other dignitaries, government officials and state and federal lawmakers will be in attendance.

"Now, those threats don't always materialize. Fewer are the moments of Butler, Pa., and what happened with Trump there. Way more often do they actually succeed, get it right, stop things before they happen. That's the standard,” Booras told Raw Story. “So, it's highly likely that you won't see the horrific violence that maybe is being threatened erupt, but again, that's not something that I would choose to be around if I didn't have to."