City officials this week reached a deal with protest organizers that will allow demonstrators to march along Michigan Avenue, adjacent to Grant Park, before the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention in August.
The ACLU of Illinois filed a federal lawsuit against the city last month on behalf of a coalition of LGBTQ+ and abortion rights groups, “Bodies Against Unjust Laws,” that sought a protest permit during the DNC. Wednesday, the ACLU announced the coalition was granted a permit to march south along Michigan Avenue from Wacker Drive to the statue of Union Army Gen. John Logan near 9th Street.
The march is scheduled for 5 p.m. Aug. 18, the day before DNC activities begin in earnest.
“We are pleased that our demands for comprehensive and inclusive health care policies that affirm the needs of trans & queer people will be within sight and sound of people on and around Michigan Avenue,” Kristi Keorkunian, of Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws, said in a statement Wednesday. “Delegates and others gathering for the DNC need to hear this message — not just around the convention but every day.”
The Logan statue, which sits at the top of a hill across the street from the Hilton Chicago hotel, was the site of the violent clashes between Chicago police officers and demonstrators during the 1968 DNC.
“This matter continues to be the subject of ongoing litigation, and the city has no comment,” a spokesperson for the city’s Law Department said.
John Austad / Chicago Tribune
Delegates on the Democratic National Convention floor chant "Stop the war" after a speech by Pierre Salinger, President John F. Kennedy's press secretary, on Aug. 28, 1968. Salinger urged adoption of the dove plank on the Vietnam War.
Chicago Tribune archive
A ball of nails thrown by anti-war protesters in Chicago during the demonstrations in 1968.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
A big welcome sign will greet delegates to the 1968 Democratic National Convention starting at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune archive
A young anti-war demonstrator confronts National Guardsmen who formed a barricade to keep protesters in Grant Park during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968.
Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune
The Illinois delegation prays during opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 26, 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
A demonstrator injured in a clash with police in Lincoln Park is carried from the scene on a stretcher by fellow demonstrators wearing medical armbands in 1968. Protesters set up their own unofficial first-aid stations.
Chicago Tribune archive
National Guardsmen donned gas masks before confronting anti-war protesters in Chicago in 1968.
William Yates/Chicago Tribune
People hold signs that say "We love Mayor Daley" on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 29, 1968, in Chicago.
Associated Press
Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, left, and his running mate, Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, stand before Democratic National Convention delegates in 1968 in Chicago.
File / Chicago Tribune
A man is arrested after climbing the Gen. Logan statue in Grant Park during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968.
William Kelly / Chicago Tribune
A TV crew, wearing helmets, on the convention floor at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 29, 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
Anti-war protesters gather in Grant Park surrounded by police during the Democratic National Convention rioting in 1968 in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune archvie
An injured protester gets aid after being tear-gassed during the Democratic National Convention riots in 1968 in Chicago.
Donald Casper / Chicago Tribune
Demonstrators opposed to the Vietnam War picket Aug. 26, 1968, outside the Democratic National Convention at the International Amphitheatre. Police barricades keep the proteters across the street. One square mile around the amphitheater was declared a maximum security zone.
Tom Kinahan/Chicago Tribune
Delegates from New York protest on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 26, 1968.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
National Guardsmen, protesters and journalists stand their ground on Michigan Avenue in 1968.
Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune
A disturbance on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 28, 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
Wielding a club, a protester joins others in an attack upon an unmarked Chicago police car during clashes in Grant Park in 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
Anti-war demonstrators in Grant Park pile up benches as a barricade in a clash with police, who had moved in to prevent them from tearing down the American flag in 1968.
John Austad / Chicago Tribune
Demonstrators gather around the General Logan monument in Grant Park in 1968, to listen to speeches protesting police actions during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
Chicago police in position outside the Hilton during the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
William Vendetta / Chicago Tribune
Fred Susinski, a police cadet, and patrolman Bernard Dorken work the communications equipment at the command post at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago on Aug. 16, 1968. The post coordinated security for the convention.
Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune
The original caption from photographer Michael Budrys reads, "Some five thousand hippies infiltrated Grant Park, shouting at police, burning draft cards, and setting off firecrackers. Police stood by like a massive wall, keeping youths off the walk."
Val Mazzenga / Chicago Tribune
A disturbance on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 28, 1968, in Chicago.
Walter Kale/Chicago Tribune
Lights from a fire truck brighten tear gas clouds and silhouette police officers confronting anti-war protesters in Lincoln Park during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune
The Illinois delegation enters the convention hall floor holding Daley for president signs Aug. 26, 1968, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
James Mayo / Chicago Tribune
A spectator who apparently was struck Aug. 26, 1968, sits on the sidelines during a news conference the following day by the National Mobilization Committee, which called for an end to the war in Vietnam.
James OLeary / Chicago Tribune
New York delegates finally enter the caucus room at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 28, 1968.
Val Mazzanga / Chicago Tribune
Delegates lift their placards for Vice President Hubert Humphrey in a premature demonstration for the presidential nominee in August 1968.
William Yates / Chicago Tribune
Anti-Vietnam War demonstrators march down Michigan Avenue in one of the peaceful events of the 1968 Democratic National Convention week, which attracted thousands of young protestors to the city. The group of "Yippies" marched outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel, one of two major convention hotels, on Aug. 25, 1968.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
A poster from the Democratic National Convention in 1968 in Chicago.
Walter Kale / Chicago Tribune
The National Guard confronts anti-war protesters in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention in August 1968. (Walter Kale/Chicago Tribune)
Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune
Tribune photographer Michael Budrys wrote on this historic print that "Troops arrive to Grant Park and within minutes virtually replace city police. Hippies remain in park singing spiritual songs by sound of strings. Michigan Ave. blocked to traffic by milling people and newsmen from around the globe."
Tribune file photo
While the convention was in Chicago, police officers and anti-war protesters clashed in downtown Chicago and in Lincoln Park, shown here, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
Protesters are surrounded by the National Guard at 18th Street and Michigan Avenue during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 29, 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
Felled by a rock thrown from ranks of protesters, a bystander lies on the ground bleeding from a head wound as other protesters rushed to his aid during the Democratic National Convention rioting in 1968.
James O'Leary/Chicago Tribune
A Georgia delegate is grabbed by security after he tried to lift one of the state standards on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 27, 1968, at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune archive
Protesters lob back tear gas canisters thrown by Chicago police in Grant Park in 1968.
Chicago Tribune historical photo
Demonstrators sleep before the next night's confrontation with police and guardsmen in 1968. The original caption from the Tribune photographer reads: "This is what the yippees do before their night's activities."
Walter Kale / Chicago Tribune
Each night, Chicago police cleared Lincoln Park, where demonstrators during the 1968 Democratic National Convention gathered during the day. Sometimes the police used canisters of tear gas, as shown here on Aug. 27, 1968. Sometimes, they used physical force.
William Kelly / Chicago Tribune
Protesters as well as police braced for trouble during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Here, anti-Vietnam War demonstrators gather in Lincoln Park for self-defense lessons on Aug. 20, 1968. The demonstrators were part of the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam organization. They held daily self-defense practice.
Chicago Tribune
Police hold an anti-war protester over the hood of a car in front of the Conrad Hilton in 1968.
Chicago Tribune archive
Anti-war protesters march outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago while the Democratic National Convention was in town in 1968.
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend upon Chicago while the DNC is held between Aug. 19-22, with the convention’s official events to be held at the United Center and McCormick Place.
Earlier this month, a separate group of organizers said Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration planned to offer another protest route closer to the United Center. That route, which has not been unveiled, will be accessible to multiple protest groups that have applied for permits, a city attorney previously said.
