Incident Overview · Protest Clashes
Democratic National ConventionChicago 1968
On 28 August 1968, anti-war protesters gathered around Grant Park and moved toward Michigan Avenue during the Democratic National Convention. The most documented confrontation happened outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel and became widely known as the “Battle of Michigan Avenue”.
What Happened
Core Incident Data
Core Findings
Grant Park to Michigan Avenue
Anti-war demonstrators gathered in and around Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Sources place the key movement from the Grant Park area toward Michigan Avenue, where the major confrontation unfolded outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel.
The event was broadcast live on national television and became a defining image of the convention week. Later sources, including the Walker Report summary, characterized the response as involving “unrestrained and indiscriminate police violence” and helped popularize the “police riot” framing.
The source record is strong on the broad sequence and location. It is weaker on one clean injury total, one clean arrest total, and any fatality claim specific to the 28 August clash.
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Incident Highlights
Chronology
Known Sequence
Conflicts
Conflicting Information
Sources give different measures for injuries, with some figures tied to 28 August and others covering the wider convention week.
ABC7 Chicago
Reports Chicago police figures of 119 police officers and 100 protesters injured, while also noting higher Medical Committee for Human Rights claims.
TIME / broader summaries
Uses wider language such as hundreds injured by the end of the convention, which is not the same as a single incident count.
Editorial note: Keep incident-specific and convention-week injury figures separate.
Sources do not give one settled arrest total.
ABC7 Chicago
Reports 589 total arrests based on Chicago police figures.
TIME
Reports 668 protesters arrested by the end of the convention.
Editorial note: The totals may reflect different windows, methods or source bases.
The source record contains a clear difference between the Walker Report framing and the city’s own contemporary report.
Walker Report / later federal material
Characterizes the events as a “police riot” and refers to unrestrained and indiscriminate police violence.
City of Chicago report
Frames events around a strategy of confrontation by protest groups and emphasizes provocation and police injuries.
Editorial note: This is a genuine source-level conflict, not just a wording difference.
Unverified Details
No source-supported fatality count was verified for the 28 August clash itself.
No reconciled injury total was verified for only the Michigan Avenue / Conrad Hilton clash.
No reconciled arrest total was verified for only the 28 August clash.
Evidence Base
Reference Cards
Source Links
