Politics
Brandon Johnson Readies for His Closeup as DNC Spotlight Shines on Chicago
Brandon Johnson takes “Chicago Tonight” on a tour of the Austin neighborhood on April 13, 2023. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Brandon Johnson had been Chicago’s mayor-elect for just seven days when he compared himself to a perhaps lesser-known member of the Chicago Bulls’ 1990s championship team.
Standing next to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, framed by the city’s skyline on a picture-perfect spring day in April 2023, Johnson acknowledged that he hadn’t helped put together Chicago’s winning bid for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, set to kick off Monday and run through Thursday.
“I’m obviously Steve Kerr,” Johnson said, drawing laughter from the ecstatic crowd gathered at the Shedd Aquarium. “So I took the final shot, here we are Chicago.”
Johnson is scheduled to address the convention on its opening night, where he will no doubt celebrate the “soul of Chicago” and welcome the thousands of delegates to what he calls the “greatest freaking city in the world.”
But Johnson, the father of three children, is also likely to describe Vice President Kamala Harris’ status as the first Black woman to be nominated by a major party for president as deeply personal for him and his 10-year-old daughter, Braedyn.
While Johnson will no doubt relish the chance to paint a vibrantly optimistic picture of the city’s future to a national audience, he might find that spotlight a bit scorching.
Like 3-point specialist Kerr, who got the ball when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen found themselves boxed out, Johnson will wear the jacket if the convention does not go as planned or protests spiral out of control, either because of violence from protesters or misconduct from Chicago police officers.
For months, Johnson has promised Chicagoans the city is ready to withstand the white-hot attention that is part and parcel of hosting a convention. The rookie mayor, the most progressive person ever elected Chicago’s mayor, will be judged on whether the city passes that test, much like Kerr was responsible for sealing many Bulls’ victories.
Though Chicago’s Chief Operating Officer John Robertson has acknowledged that Chicago’s “haters ... don’t believe Chicago is ready,” Johnson said the city was “born ready.”
“My vision for the DNC, ultimately, is to have a safe, energetic, vibrant convention, and I’m confident we will be able to deliver that,” Johnson said.
A successful convention that spotlights the best of Chicago on a national stage would likely add to Johnson’s reserves of political capital, which he would be able to draw on in the battles to come.
But Johnson would be the first to admit he is an unlikely person to be playing host to the national Democratic Party at its convention, a challenge likely to tax even the most seasoned politicians.
The DNC returns to Chicago for the first time since 1996, when Johnson was freshly out of high school and years from becoming a high school social studies teacher and then an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Had the DNC returned to Chicago during the tenure of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Johnson would likely have had a major role in organizing protests with the union and other progressive groups.
That has alarmed more moderate and conservative city officials, who worry that Johnson’s heart will be with the thousands of protesters expected to call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and an expansion of reproductive rights and gender-affirming health care from the streets surrounding the United Center.
“If there is a mayor who values protest, it is certainly me,” Johnson told WTTW News in May. “I know what it is like to be out there demanding government respond to our hopes and aspirations.”
The groups planning to protest the convention have been strikingly critical of how the city has handled their requests for permits. After rejections from city officials, several groups were forced to sue the city.
Handling those protests will be a major test for the Chicago Police Department, which struggled to constitutionally police the marches and rallies that erupted during the summer of 2020, when unrest triggered by the police murder of George Floyd swept the city.
Johnson said he and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling had “very candid conservations” about the 2024 convention, shadowed by the riot by Chicago police officers that marred the 1968 convention.
Snelling has repeatedly said that the department will allow everyone to exercise First Amendment rights while maintaining the peace — but will not tolerate violence or threats to public safety.
Johnson and Snelling have also vowed to ensure that the rest of the city is protected from crime and violence, even with hundreds of officers focused on protecting the United Center and McCormick Place.
A spike in crime or violence — especially downtown, on the North Side or within sight and sound of a delegate — will make national, if not international news, and dim what Johnson hopes will be a glittering moment for Chicago on the world’s stage.
Such an incident could also complicate Johnson’s efforts to transform CPD into an agency better prepared to take a new, more holistic approach to public safety, and give a megaphone to his critics who blast that effort as too soft on criminals.
In addition, if CPD officers botch their response to the protests, it could trigger another round of probes by the city’s inspector general and the independent team monitoring the city’s compliance with the federal court order, known as the consent decree, that requires CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
The consent decree was expanded after the George Floyd protests to include 17 new requirements, ranging from new rules governing efforts to prepare for large protests and civil unrest to requirements that officers’ body-worn cameras be reviewed after incidents.
The independent monitoring team led by attorney Maggie Hickey called on CPD to make “immediate, deliberate, and transparent efforts” to “protect First Amendment speech while reducing the use of force and violence toward people and property” in the wake of the George Floyd protests.
If CPD does not, the city could face renewed pressure from U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer — as well as the prospect of further damaging relations between police officers and Chicagoans and racking up millions of dollars in costs to resolve lawsuits alleging misconduct.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
