(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Is it a tornado? A flood? A hurricane? No, it’s the Democratic National Convention and leftist protesters that are forcing Chicago businesses to board up their windows.
Headline USA spoke with Chicago Board Up Service, one of the largest window boarding companies in the area, about the surge of businesses seeking to fortifying their windows against anticipated anti-Israeli protests.
In a brief phone interview on Sunday afternoon, Vicki Fichter of Chicago Board Up Service confirmed that there has been an increase in companies using their board-up protections ahead of the DNC.
Fichter explained that businesses are specifically concerned about potential unrest during the convention, which is scheduled to begin on Aug. 19 and end on Aug. 22 in downtown Chicago. ABC-7 Chicago was the first outlet to report on these developments.
Fichter could not immediately identify any other instances when asked whether businesses had previously boarded up their buildings for other social events, such as concerts.
Chicago Board Up Service specializes in protecting properties from damage caused by smoke, fire, flood, natural disasters, vandalism, break-ins, car accidents, weather, water and now, of course, protesters.
The board-up services range from $350 and go up to $1,000 depending on the number of windows, glass and other services required, Fichter told Headline USA.
Several videos shared on social media show numerous wooden boarded-up businesses across Chicago, highlighting the widespread concern among local owners. This is reminiscent of 2020, when several businesses boarded up their windows and doors in anticipation of potential unrest if President Donald Trump had been re-elected.
In the summer of 2020, businesses were again forced to board up in response to the violent looting tied to Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s killing.
Democrats are expected to face a rampant group of pro-Palestinian hecklers upset at American support for Israel’s military operations inside the Gaza Strip, where Hamas still holds several dozen hostages.
This anti-Israeli group previously disrupted the Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have both been heckled by these groups.
Hatem Abudayyeh, chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said the hecklers’ target is the Democratic Party as a whole.
“We feel that their administration is responsible for this ongoing war and genocide,” he said in a soft-ball interview with The Washington Post.
Notably, there is no genocide in Gaza. Instead, Israeli forces are in Gaza after Hamas savagely killed roughly 1,200 individuals in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
