(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Activists who are planning protests during this summer's Democratic National Convention in Chicago say they won't let the city's denials of permits stop them.
Groups representing political progressives, immigrants, women, Palestinians and others say the Chicago Department of Transportation has denied them permits to march within sight and sound of the DNC in August, citing traffic and safety concerns.
Officials have tried to steer them to an alternative protest site, which Erica Bentley says is insulting.
“With or without a permit, we will be out here in August,” said Bentley, with the MAMAS (Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity) Collective.
“We will be out here in the days and weeks and months leading up to August, shoulder to shoulder, with our siblings, demanding the respect from our city officials, from the City Council, from the mayor, from the state’s attorney, from the governor.”
Joe Iosbaker, with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said his group and others have a right to voice their grievances.
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