1968 Democratic National Convention protests

Protest activity against the Vietnam War took place before and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Protests at Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic National Convention

In 1967, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups had been promising to come to Chicago and ruin the convention, and the city promised to maintain law and order.

For eight days the protesters were met by the Chicago Police Department in the streets and parks of Chicago while the U.S. Democratic Party met at the convention in the International Amphitheater, with the protests became violent in what a major report later said was a "police riot" on the night of August 28, 1968.