CHICAGO - As Democrat elites "feast" on Chicago's best food and drink, the attention to the party's 2024 presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is overshadowing the Windy City's persistent problems of violence and policy failures, according to a former city police chief.
"There's a lot of ironies associated with the DNC being held at the United Center," Gene Roy, the Chicago Police Department's former chief of detectives and a public safety consultant, told Fox News Digital.
Just a few weeks ago and a few blocks away, a 7-year-old named Jai'Mani Rivera died despite responding officers' lifesaving efforts after a stray bullet struck him outside his mother's home on Jackson Avenue. The 16-year-old suspect was moving about freely despite a violent history, Roy said.
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"That is a sign of all that's wrong in Chicago right now," he added. "The Juvenile Probation Department, which reports directly to the chief judge of the Cook County Court system, was aware of the fact that the offender had broken the terms of his home confinement, but took no action…and again, this hoopla is going on. This grand party is going on. The reality of life is three blocks away."
Roy has been highlighting what he sees as "window dressing" designed to hide Chicago's problems while VIPs are in town for the convention. He told Fox News Digital the optics of the whole convention reminded him of medieval royalty removed from the masses, protected by a castle.
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"I find the whole DNC convention here as an example of the elitism of the Democratic Party." he said. "The politicians are inside a heavily fortified building, almost like a castle. They're feasting on the best of food and liquor while protected by hundreds of armed police officers and two separate fences."
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Protesters outside the DNC Monday evening shouted at officers to go home. But they don't have a choice, Roy noted. They've had their days off canceled and hours extended to ensure the event is secure.
"They're working a minimum of 12 hours, and that's not including time to and from work," he said. "They're struggling to maintain their households, their families."
That adds to their stress and reduces their time to recover, he said.
"Is this the way we want to treat our officers? Do we want officers who are sleep-deprived, burnt out, confronting protesters in a volatile situation?"
Demonstrators kicked their way through a fence and swarmed the outer fencing on Monday, but made it no further.
"Demonstrators breached a portion of anti-scale fencing along the Democratic National Convention’s outer perimeter near the United Center on Aug. 19," the DNC Public Safety Joint Information Center said in a statement after the incident. Law enforcement personnel were immediately on-scene and contained the situation. At no point was the inner perimeter breached, and there was no threat to any protectees."
Another standoff at Union Park nearby ended after police told protesters to remove a couple of tents they set up. Officers were holding signs that read "You are being ordered to disperse by the Chicago Police Department."
DNC organizers previously told Fox News Digital the stringent security measures are part of standard procedure mandated by the Secret Service for all national special security events, including the RNC in Milwaukee earlier this year.
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But Chicago is unique in its public safety and quality of life struggles. And the lip service from officials who continue to deny crime is a problem in this country does nothing for the victims or their families, Roy said.
So far, the protests outside the DNC look nothing like the infamous 1968 clashes between anti-Vietnam War protesters and city police. Organizers plan to continue to rally throughout the convention, however, with demonstrations planned outside the Israeli consulate Tuesday and a march past the United Center Thursday as the convention comes to a close.
Fox News' Matteo Cina and Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
