Chicago officials are under fire after their last-minute restrictions on the Democratic National Convention protests, calling the limits on sound equipment and other essential tools a direct attack on free speech rights.
The City of Chicago informed organizers of the pro-Palestinian rights group the Coalition while they are permitted to assemble and march with the tens of thousands expected to protest next week, the city has limited their ability to communicate their message about ending U.S. aid for Israel.
The Coalition is a pro-Palestinian group that highlights several issues within the Democratic Party, including financing the conflict in Palestine and wars in other countries, contributing to the mass incarceration of Black and brown individuals and deporting millions of immigrants
The spokesperson for the Coalition and National Chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network said this is a targeted attack on the group’s First Amendment Rights.
“Someone doesn’t want us to talk about Palestine, about ‘Genocide Joe’ and ‘Killer Kamala’,” Hatem Abudayyeh said in a conference on Friday morning. “We stand with Palestine. Democrats are complicit in the Israel killing of 40,000 Palestinians. Biden and Harris have the power to stop it and they haven’t.”