Chicago merchants start protecting their businesses in the face of DNC: "It's cheaper than replacing glass later"

Chicago will once again host the Democratic National Convention. For the third time in its history, the Illinois state capital will witness the formalization of the Democratic presidential ticket, in this case the one comprising Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. However, paralleling the enthusiasm of residents is the fear of business owners, who are already taking measures to prevent vandalism.

The DNC will take place at the United Center from Monday, Aug. 19 through Thursday, Aug. 22. Some 50,000 attendees are expected, including delegates, special guests and some 15,000 journalists.

While there are few details on the speakers, Harris, Walz, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg, Brandon Johnson and Jason Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who said he hoped to be alive to vote for the Democratic ticket in November.

At the same time, at least a half-dozen protests are also expected throughout the convention, so merchants began taking precautionary measures.

"The city doesn't have a great track record in protecting its businesses."

"We have experience with this and the city doesn't have a great track record in protecting its businesses or the property of its citizens. That's why we want to be preemptive and board up the street before the Democratic convention," said Scott Shapiro, owner of Syd Jerome's, speaking to Fox News as he boarded up his business.

"Since 2019, we have experienced looting or vandalism on four separate occasions. Like I said, we have little experience in these types of situations and the city has given us no assurances that they're going to do anything specifically downtown. We wanted to make sure we were safe. The store was safe and our employees were safe," the merchant continued.

Shapiro was joined by Vicki Fichter, owner of Chicago Board-Up Services, who spoke with the same media outlet and revealed that the nervousness began a few weeks ago in the city.

"In the last couple of weeks, everyone's been a little nervous. So we've been doing basically pre-caps for the last two weeks. Now everybody is starting to pre-wall, now that everybody is going to be working remotely next week. It's cheaper to pre-wall the door than to pre-wall it and replace the glass later. So I think they are just being more preemptive this time. They want that security," he noted.

As for the authorities, they installed a fence around the United Center and strengthened police presence in the area. According to Governor JB Pritzker, at least 150 members of the National Guard arrived in Chicago in case the protests get out of control.

They will be joined by more than 300 police officers from Illinois and Milwaukee, who were designated exclusively for this event by Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. The idea is that their presence will relieve the rest of the officers and allow them to continue patrolling the city normally so as not to neglect the neighbors.