New fencing goes up outside DNC a day after pro-Palestinian protesters breach outer barrier

Chicago crews installed an additional line of security fences outside the Democratic National Convention early Tuesday in the area where, a day earlier, demonstrators breached an outer perimeter fence.

About a dozen workers installed a third row of fencing stretching east on Washington Boulevard from the area that was breached. The new row of fencing is in between the two rows that had already been in place.

The added security measure comes a day after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, rallying against US support for Israel in its war against Hamas, split off from a larger protest march and breached a security fence near the United Center.

Further protests are expected throughout the four-day convention.

“They breached the fence. They got into the outer perimeter. They were trying to get into the inner perimeter, they were shaking the fence on the other side,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters on Monday. “Officers responded swiftly to make sure that that didn’t happen.”

“Our job here is to make sure that we keep the DNC safe, keep our city safe and keep our city safe,” Snelling added. “We have no idea what they would have done had they gotten onto the other side. But as I’ve said before, we’re not going to tolerate anyone who is going to vandalize things in our city. We are not going to tolerate anyone who (is) going to commit acts of violence.”

Snelling said he did not associate the security breach with the march as a whole. “You had people who just wanted to have their voices heard. They did that. But you had a portion of that group who decided that they were going to stand behind and try to breach the fence and get to the other side, and we cannot let that happen,” he said.

The DNC Public Safety Joint Information Center said in a statement: “At no point was the inner perimeter breached, and there was no threat to any protectees.”

“The National Special Security Event plan employs a multi-layered approach. Each NSSE plan is unique and includes multiple layers. One of these redundancies include the outer perimeter fence, which was erected to prevent entry into the inner perimeter,” the center said.

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, speaking with CNN from the convention floor, said authorities have “a good plan in place” and described the fence breaching as brief.

Pritzker said authorities will respect the right to protest but will not “stand for any mayhem.”

“Frankly, that’s the way it’s going to be,” Pritzker said.