Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Police Remember '68 Convention

CPR:
Denver and Minneapolis are gearing up to host the national political conventions in the next few weeks. Host cities get a week to strut their stuff on a national stage. Forty years ago Chicago hosted the Democratic convention but it was a fiasco. Violent clashes between war protesters and police became an embarrassment for mayor Richard J Daley. This week, we're looking back at those tumultuous days through the eyes of people who were there: police, protesters, delegates, and journalists. Today, we hear the story of a retired cop who was assigned to protect the Conrad Hilton Hotel, the epicenter of much of the conflict.

Officer Mike Schumacher lives in an eighteenth floor apartment overlooking Grant Park. From his balcony, you can see the Conrad Hilton Hotel where convention delegates and presidential candidates stayed during the '68 convention.

SCHUMACHER: It's the larger building. You can see almost like it looks like an 'H' in the center for Hilton.

There are reminders of '68 inside his apartment as well.

SCHUMACHER: Brass pigs, copper pig, gold pigs, there's pig cookie cutters, there's pigs hanging here.

There are pigs everywhere. A pig hat rack. A pig lamp. There's a curio cabinet with porcelain pigs. One particularly rotund fellow is playing a tuba.

SCHUMACHER: Yeah, he's a German pig, I mean they come all different ways.

Pig is of course the name that hippies and others shouted at cops in the late sixties. Schumacher heard that and worse when he was trying to keep protestors away from the many dignitaries staying at the Conrad Hilton. Last Friday we walked the area around the hotel on South Michigan Ave. We went across the street to Grant Park and Schumacher smiled as he climbed up a berm that must be at least 30 feet high.
Not a very proud moment in the history of this city. Via Capitol Fax morning shorts.

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