The overwhelming police presence is unavoidable outside of the United Center in Chicago, where the 2024 Democratic National Convention is underway. No matter what direction you approach from, you’re guaranteed to see hundreds of officers from different forces, many hanging around charter buses or manning bicycles, choking the area around the convention and clearly ready for action.

Ahead of the DNC, there’s been a lot of chatter about a potential for upheaval brought on by pro-Palestine protests, comparisons to the tumult at the 1968 convention, and so on. But the status of the biggest rally, organized by March on the DNC, seemed to be in limbo until the week before it was scheduled, after a lengthy drama in which the city and organizers were at odds about the route of the march. Police representatives like Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling made grave public warnings to protesters about swift police intervention if things got out of hand. “I am not going to wait until out-of-control and then try to bring it back in,” he said. Gov. J. B. Pritzker involved the Illinois National Guard.

The fear of violence was far-reaching. Many local businesses have preemptively boarded up their stores, and some Democratic lawmakers who expressed concern over their safety were told by law enforcement to avoid certain areas or otherwise expect violence, and to book hotels under false names. Worry about the potential for a climactic clash involving pro-Palestine protests was punctuated by a $75 million grant from the Department of Justice to bolster security.

Inside the park, however, as the March on the DNC rally was underway, it began to feel like it was all much ado about nothing. The main protesters decried the Biden administration’s continued funding and political cover for Israel’s nearly........

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