Those protesting the war in Gaza outside the Democratic National Convention, who had hoped to get their message across to the nation’s most powerful Democrats, successfully disrupted one aspect of the night: the arrival of hundreds of attendees.
Shuttle buses transporting reporters, delegates and other party members from hotels and convention venues to the United Center were held up blocks away from the entrance for nearly two hours on Monday evening.
A Chicago police officer on one shuttle traveling from McCormick Place to the United Center told passengers the traffic delays were due to protesters who had breached the front gate as staff worked to rebuild the security perimeter.
Inside the buses, frustrated attendees vented about their delays.
“I’m very angry, to say the least,” said Kimberly S. Adams, a board member at the Feminist Majority Foundation. “This is the night that Joe Biden is going to address the delegations and American people. I’ve gotten several text messages since I’ve been on this bus asking where I am.”
“It doesn’t send a good message,” Adams continued. “It tells the protesters who were here that they have won on some level. This is what they want.”
Many waited patiently initially. But as speeches commenced, most began to disregard the Chicago police warnings that Secret Service officers may not approve their entry if they walked to the arena.
Once attendees got to the doors, however, they were met with an additional hour wait for security. At one point, frustrated attendees groaned and angrily yelled back at Chicago police officers trying to keep an orderly line for entry. Some people decided waiting in line wasn’t worth it and took their loss on Monday night in hopes of better chances tomorrow.
“I think they weren’t ready for that many people to show up,” Ohio delegate Erika White told NOTUS. “But, it is the first day of the convention. Hopefully, they will look at the logistics from today and continue to update their protocols as they go.”
Others told NOTUS that mishaps like Monday’s come with the convention territory.
“People should expect if they come to an event with thousands of people trying to get inside one arena that it will take forever,” said Lisa Brown, executive vice president at the Service Employees International Union’s Maryland/D.C. division. “It’s a presidential event. … If I wanted to be inside the venue at 6, I would have left my hotel at 3.”
As for the protesters, Biden gave them a shout-out at the end of the night: “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides,” the president said in his remarks.
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.