Tension in the streets near the United Center as Kamala Harris takes the stage

Tension began to build at Union Park late Thursday during the final protest march outside Chicago’s Democratic National Convention, and in the final moments before Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage blocks away at the United Center.

After an earlier parade in the streets near the arena returned to the West Side park, hundreds of Chicago police officers began to block a march against the war in Gaza from continuing. The protesters said they wanted to keep marching until Harris took the stage.

Many members of the crowd remained under the L tracks on Lake Street around 9 p.m., standing shoulder-to-shoulder while pounding on drums and chanting “Gaza! Gaza!”

Negotiations between a police liaison from the group and Police Supt. Larry Snelling went nowhere, and organizers began to encourage the crowd to demonstrate further in the weeks to come — a sign the crowd would soon disperse.

“Please organize protests when you go home,” they said. “We have to build organization to win.”

Still, police remained on guard as the Democratic presidential nominee neared the biggest speech of her political career. A sit-in that began on Ashland Avenue, just south of Lake, quickly grew to 60 participants.

The moment seemed to put at risk a week that could still end with mostly peaceful protests and just 72 arrests. Either way, it will long be remembered in a city with a deep history of political conventions and activism.

“What we’ve learned here is that preparation is everything,” Snelling told reporters earlier in the day. “Two things you need for success: Opportunity and preparation. We had the opportunity to respond to the Democratic National Convention, and we were prepared for it.”

Hatem Abudayyeh, a local Palestinian activist and organizer of many of the week’s marches, called it an “incredibly successful week” with thousands taking to the streets to demand the Democrats in power end U.S. aid to Israel.

They also warned that, if Harris doesn’t change course on the issue, she’ll lose in November.

Protesters set out to finish the week strong, creating a palpable contrast between the party celebrating Harris at the United Center and a group chanting about genocide blocks away, trying to get the Democrats’ attention.

The group rallied at Union Park before beginning a march on Washington Boulevard. The turnout seemed just as strong as earlier marches Monday and Wednesday, though the latest crowd seemed denser, with people marching shoulder-to-shoulder in the street.

A member of the U.S. Out of the Philippines Contingent, who declined to give their last name for fear of retribution, chanted alongside the rest of their group as they arrived at the rally Thursday: “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air, U.S. out of everywhere.”

In the sea of Palestinian flags and signs condemning the killings in Gaza, a handful of people also protested other causes. Spotted were signs that said: “Only the Struggle has won women’s rights,” pointing to the rollback of abortion rights in states across the country; and “Corporations are not people,” decrying the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which enabled companies to spend unlimited funds on elections.

But one theme emerged: A particular ire toward Harris, who received a raucous ovation when she took the stage at the United Center.

In the streets nearby, they chanted “Killer Kamala, you will see, Palestine will be free!”