Over a dozen arrested on Dem convention's first day: What to know

CHICAGO − More than a dozen people were arrested protesting the the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Chicago police said, as officers braced for a militant showdown at the Israeli consulate Tuesday night.

The Monday arrests stemmed from a largely peaceful one-mile march of an estimated several thousand people calling for an end to the Gaza war. Officers arrested 13 people − including a 70-year-old retired emergency room doctor who said he was just cycling by for a closer look at the demonstration.

Things turned chaotic when the march stopped at a park facing the United Center convention hall around 5 p.m. and dozens of people broke off to breach the convention site's outer security fence.

Demonstrators pulled down sections of the fence and stormed through to push against a second perimeter fence before officers threatened them with pepper spray. All but a handful of left after dozens of police in riot gear closed in. The breach lasted about 30 minutes.

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Most the arrests were made in the area of the breach. Of the people arrested, 11 have been charged. They range in age from 22 to 70. Charges included one felony count of aggravated battery of a police officer and three misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, who was on the scene for the protest Monday, praised his officers at a briefing Tuesday. “We put on display the training and preparation we've been engaged in for over a year now,” Snelling said, adding protesters threw water bottlers and other objects at officers and used pepper spray on them.

Snelling made a point of saying that the group behind the breach was a small part of the 3,500 people who participated in the march.

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Asked about claims that police left two protesters hospitalized, Snelling said the pair were taken to the hospital not for injuries but to receive medication.

He also threw cold water on claims that protesters were wrongfully arrested, saying that “sometimes being in the wrong place at the wrong time is indicative of choices that you make to engage in criminal activity.”

"They were just morons. They just were trying to be tough guys," retired doctor Charles Steinbrugge told USA TODAY after spending 12 hours in jail following his arrest by Homeland Security officers. "They had nothing else to do because there was nothing going on in that area."

The city has fortified the fencing that protesters breached, Snelling said.

More protests planned

Police were preparing for more protests throughout the week, Snelling said, including one set for Tuesday evening outside the Israeli Consulate near downtown Chicago.

The group organizing the consulate protest, Behind Enemy Lines , has advocated for protesters to create chaos at demonstrations, and praised the torching of a Minneapolis police precinct during the 2020 George Floyd riots.

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“You never know what to expect from a group like that,” Snelling admitted, adding that Chicago police were prepared.

Tuesday afternoon, hours ahead of the planned protest, dozens of police were seen massing outside the consulate and on side streets.

Contributing: Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Over a dozen arrested on Dem convention's first day: What to know