At least 55 arrested at anti-Israel protest outside Chicago’s Israeli consulate

CHICAGO — At least 55 protesters are arrested following violent clashes with police in Chicago on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, a situation the police chief called “a danger to our city.”

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling says that those arrested outside the Israeli Consulate, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the United Center where Democrats were meeting, “showed up with the intention of committing acts of violence, vandalism.”

“As the Chicago Police Department, we did everything that we could to de-escalate that situation,” Snelling says during a news conference. “But there’s only so much de-escalation that you can attempt before it becomes excessive repetition.”

The intense confrontations between pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters and officers began minutes into the demonstration, after some protesters — many dressed in black, their faces covered — charged at a line of police who had blocked their march.

They eventually moved past the officers but were penned in several times throughout the night by police in riot gear who did not allow protesters to disperse.

Snelling says protesters showed up to “fight with the police.”

“We were not the initiators of violence, but we responded to it,” Snelling says.

Snelling says that between 55 and 60 people were arrested. Two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, one for knee pain and one with a finger injury, Snelling says.

Two officers were injured but they refused medical attention because they did not want to leave fellow officers, Snelling says. He says three journalists were among those arrested, but he did not have details on the charges.

“Last night was a danger to our city and a danger to our citizens in this city, our residents’ property. And CPD has to protect that,” Snelling says.