🦄 Protest & Direct Action

DNC Day 4 – Delegates Walk-Out as Crowds Defy Rain to Protest DNC

By Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA – The last day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention had more action on the inside than on the outside. As delegates left their seats inside the Wells Fargo Center during Hillary Clinton’s Democratic Party nominee acceptance speech, crowds gathered outside in the rain and continued their protest of the Democratic Party and politics in the USA.

Unicorn Riot was on the streets outside the convention covering the ongoing protests. We were live (signal permitting) during portions of the night. Here is a small montage video of the first three days:

Rain came and went throughout the afternoon and nighttime. Bernie Sanders supporters, disillusioned Democrats, socialists and anarchists protested around FDR Park and the security perimeter to the DNC. They protested against Clinton, the Democratic Party and its policies; some disgruntled Dems plotted their #DEMexit–leaving the Democratic Party.

As darkness fell upon Philadelphia, large crowds of people filled the streets expressing disgust and hatred towards the DNC process and what many considered “election fraud” which led to nomination of Hillary Clinton. People burned her signs, placards, and chanted many slogans against her, including “Thank you Wikileaks, Hillary cheats.”

(More than 19,000 internal emails from the Democratic National Committee published by Wikileaks roiled the Democratic Party throughout the week; thousands of participants in the process felt cheated and incensed at what they saw as proof of an unfair process. Party Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz finally resigned after months of pressure from both the Clinton and Sanders camps; press reports generally attributed this to both failing at administrative tasks since at least last year, as well as being exposed as hostile to Sanders in the leaks.)

Many delegates on the inside left their seats during Clinton’s speech and attempted to walk out of the convention in protest of her nomination and what they considered an unfair and dishonest primary campaign administered by the DNC.

Outside, the crowd of protesters grew as they planned on meeting the soon-departing delegates, but the expected delegates were not seen for hours. When departing Sanders delegates arrived, they shared stories of being contained inside the Wells Fargo Center by security (coordinated by the US Secret Service) and not being allowed to directly join the protesters outside.

After 10:30 p.m., a non-partisan group, Democracy Spring, led hundreds of protesters from the gates of the security perimeter to the Boathouse at FDR Park while two columns of suited up riot police came out, posed and then retreated.

Hundreds who followed Democracy Spring were led to a rally with speakers and delegates that had participated in protests that night and throughout the week. Below is the full version of the rally.

Socialist Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant gave an impassioned speech, see it below:

A highlight of a few delegates speaking about their experience during the protest inside the DNC and more is below.

Crowd gathered at multiple locations throughout the night, holding space for delegates to speak, participating in sit-ins, and holding people’s court. The livestream below features some examples of the various gatherings that happened.

The night ended with a few folks who getting arrested after trying to run past bicycle police and scale the fence to place Hillary Clinton under citizens’ arrest.

We were live after the arrests:

The night’s protest activities ended in the early morning. Despite a week straight of tens of thousands of protesters railing against Hillary and the Democratic Party, she was ultimately selected and accepted the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. Her acceptance speech was met by protesters outside with promises to organize against her and to develop a third party, many looking towards the Green Party.

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Published July 31, 2016
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