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Having a political convention in your city is usually seen as likely to bring a welcome economic boon, but that cannot be said of the upcoming Democratic National Convention, which is set to begin in Chicago on Monday. In fact, downtown businesses are bracing for violence, chaos, and looting as many thousands of pro-Hamas activists and protesters are expected to descend upon the city, threatening to make Chicago in 2024 look like Minneapolis in 2020.
According to a report from the New York Post, businesses started boarding up their windows and doors last week.
The century-old Garland Building on Wabash and Washington Streets was covered in sheets of plywood and 2-by-4s on Friday, along with numerous other businesses along the Loop, the city’s main business district, NBC Chicago reported.
Scott Schapiro, who owns the Syd Jerome menswear shop on Clark Street, said he wasn’t taking any chances during this convention — where thousands of protesters are expected — since his store has been looted by vandals four separate times in the past.
“You get that phone call in the middle of the night and your heart jumps out of your chest,” he told the outlet.
«We want to sleep a little more soundly at night, and this gives us a little security, and we hope that there isn’t any incident obviously, but in the event there is, we want to have maximum protection,” Schapiro explained.
