Dozens arrested near Israel's Chicago consulate as Dems pick Harris

CHICAGO − Dozens of demonstrators were arrested outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago on Tuesday night as Democratic National Convention delegates formally nominated Kamala Harris as the party's presidential nominee at an arena two miles across town.

At least 67 people, including two journalists, were taken into custody, a spokesman for the National Lawyers Guild said. Protesters seeking an end to the Gaza war were heavily outnumbered by police at the diplomatic mission, located inside Chicago's glass-fronted Accenture Tower.

“These officers did one hell of a job tonight keeping the city safe and keeping violent individuals from inflicting violence,” Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters on the scene. The demonstration had been called by Behind Enemy Lines, a militant protest group that extols confrontation with law enforcement.

Despite the anticipation of potential conflict, the protest flared and faded without serious incident.

As dozens of protesters chanted and banged on drums, surrounded by reporters, one participant set an American flag alight on the street and was briefly interrupted by a bystander who tried to retrieve it. "You guys are the enemy," he said to the masked protesters. "Don't burn the American flag."

Members of a white supremacist group made a brief appearance in front of the consulate in the early moments of the protest − as did, according the the Chicago Tribune, My Pillow CEO and election denial activist Mike Lindell. When a demonstrator asked Lindell how he slept at night, the right wing provocateur replied, “What do you sleep on? Do you sleep on a My Pillow?”

At least six people were arrested in front of the tower.

As dusk fell, a small pro-Israel group gathered near the demonstration's fringes to briefly chant their own slogans.

By 8pm the demonstrators had left the consulate and were making their way down a side street where police made a handful of arrests while shouting "Get out!"

Among those detained was photographer Sinna Nasseri, whose work has appeared in the New Yorker and New York magazine.

In a scrum of officers and protesters a block away from the consulate, several police supervisors waded into the fray to help make arrests, and a megaphone marchers had been using to chant slogans clattered to the ground. An officer swiped it from the pavement and walked away.

“This was unpermitted and therefore we can’t guarantee the safety of people if we don’t know the route, if we don’t know where they’re going,” Snelling said of the protest.

As officers loaded a group of detainees into the van, some of them chanted "free Palestine" in a call-and-response with supporters standing to the side outside the police line.

Chicago is hosting a wide range of groups protesting the Gaza war and the Biden administration's support for Israel during the nominating convention.

More: DNC comes to 'Little Palestine' as Gaza deaths top 40,000

Behind Enemy Lines is on the more militant end of the spectrum. The group is an unabashed proponent of confrontational protests that seize the attention of government and the media. "Whether it’s Genocide Joe, or Killer Kamala, the butchers of Gaza cannot be allowed to gather in Chicago undisturbed," the group said on its website announcing the protest.

In a reference to the violent "Days of Rage" protests that rocked the Democratic National Convention more than five decades ago, the group said, "Make it great like ‘68!"

Contributing: Medora Lee, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dozens arrested at Israeli consulate convention protest