Protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention
Title	Protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention
Date	August 1968
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Coordinates	41.8781°N 87.6298°W
Causes	Opposition to Vietnam War, civil rights disputes, opposition to Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey
Methods	Marches, rallies, civil disobedience
Result	National debate over protest policing; legal cases including Chicago Eight trial

Protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention were a series of demonstrations and confrontations in Grant Park and on the streets of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Activists opposing the Vietnam War and supporting civil rights sought to influence the nomination process amid the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Tensions involved local and federal authorities, leading to violent clashes that reshaped public discourse around protest, policing, and the Democratic Party.

Background

By 1968 public opposition to the Vietnam War had coalesced after the Tet Offensive and the expansion of draft resistance movements like the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and the Students for a Democratic Society. The shock of Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy intensified factional disputes within the Democratic Party and energized groups including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, and antiwar coalitions led by activists associated with Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, and Jerry Rubin. Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley prepared a heavy Chicago Police Department response influenced by figures such as Eugene Sawyer and police superintendent Orlando W. Winn; federal actors including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service monitored activist networks.

Organizers and Participants

Key organizers included the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam led by activists like David Dellinger, the Yippies led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, and student organizers from Students for a Democratic Society including Tom Hayden. Civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress of Racial Equality had local chapters coordinating actions alongside labor groups like the United Auto Workers and progressive politicians including Eugene McCarthy supporters. Black nationalist and revolutionary organizations, notably the Black Panther Party and the Revolutionary Union, mobilized separately; alliances and tensions emerged with ethnic groups including Puerto Rican activists from Young Lords and immigrant-rights advocates from Jose Cha Cha Jimenez’s circles. The intersection of campus-based groups from Columbia University and Berkeley with Chicago-based organizers produced a diverse protest coalition.

Demonstrations and Events

Demonstrations ranged from permitted marches on Grant Park to spontaneous street confrontations near McCormick Place and along the Lake Michigan lakefront. Notable events included a march organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and theatrical protests staged by the Youth International Party (the Yippies) which intended to nominate a pig named "Pigasus" as a satirical critique of the convention. Protesters attempted to picket the International Amphitheatre and to hold teach-ins modeled on tactics from Berkeley Free Speech Movement demonstrations and earlier actions at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Skirmishes erupted at sites near Grant Park, Michigan Avenue, and Jackson Park, drawing crowds that included journalists from outlets such as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Police Response and Violence

The Chicago Police Department response, coordinated with the Cook County Sheriff's Office and federal law enforcement, used baton charges, arrests, and riot-control tactics against demonstrators and bystanders, including coverage by reporters from CBS News and NBC News. Incidents on the Chicago streets in August 1968 featured televised confrontations between police under orders from Mayor Richard J. Daley and demonstrators including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, and others, leading to hundreds of arrests. The confrontation prompted statements from national figures such as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, and Republican leaders including Richard Nixon. Allegations of police brutality were raised by civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and investigated by commissions influenced by activists connected to CORE and the National Lawyers Guild.

Political Impact and Convention Proceedings

The protests and police reactions overshadowed the convention proceedings, complicating the nomination of Hubert Humphrey and undercutting campaigns for Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern-aligned reformers. Delegates debated platforms on the Vietnam War and civil rights amid televised images of unrest, affecting public perception of the Democratic Party heading into the 1968 United States presidential election. The convention's handling of antiwar demonstrators influenced later party reforms such as those advocated by the McGovern–Fraser Commission, and contributed to political realignments involving figures like George Wallace and shifting voting blocs in the 1972 United States presidential election.

Legal Aftermath and Trials

The aftermath produced high-profile prosecutions, most notably the Chicago Eight trial, in which defendants including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, and Rennie Davis were indicted on charges of conspiracy and inciting to riot; prosecutors included figures from the United States Department of Justice while the presiding judge was Julius Hoffman. Appeals and contempt citations reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States, affecting jurisprudence on protest rights developed alongside precedents such as Brandenburg v. Ohio. Civil suits by arrested demonstrators against the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department led to settlements and continued litigation involving the American Civil Liberties Union and private counsel including William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass.

Media Coverage and Public Perception

National and international coverage by networks such as ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News and publications including the New York Times and Time framed the events as symbolic of 1960s turmoil alongside images from Stonewall riots and earlier protests like Selma to Montgomery marches. Photographers and journalists including those from the Associated Press captured scenes that shaped public opinion, influencing editorials in outlets such as the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. Cultural commentators from the New Left and conservative outlets debated interpretations, with commentators referencing figures like Norman Mailer and Hunter S. Thompson; public opinion polls by organizations such as Gallup documented a divided electorate that affected the outcome of the 1968 United States presidential election and subsequent media portrayals in works like The Trial of the Chicago 7 cultural retellings.

Category:1968 in Illinois Category:Protests in the United States Category:Political violence in the United States