Activists used the Chicago City Council's passage today of two ordinances that deal with protests in anticipation of the May G8/NATO summits to say Rahm Emanuel is trampling on First Amendment rights.

“I should almost thank Mayor Emanuel because he has brought so many groups together who care about the right to protest,” says Danny Postel, a spokesman for Stand Up! Chicago.* The group organized a packed press conference and protest held this morning outside city council chambers at 9 a.m.

The anger and passion of these advocates was a glaring disconnect from the pro-Emanuel meeting held inside council chambers, where aldermen passed the ordinances 41-5 and 45-4. “Mayor Emanuel should be congratulated for his open-mindedness,” said Ald. Joe Moore (49th), a frequent critic of erstwhile Mayor Richard Daley.

“I want to thank the administration for listening to all the aldermen,” said Ald. Walter Burnett (27th).

Inside Council Chambers

Moore and Burnett’s praise of Emanuel, in part, referred to the Mayor revising his original protest ordinance. For example, the mayor undid a plan to raise fines for protesters who resist arrest.

One ordinance, which passed, 41-5, was tailored for the NATO/G8 summits, which will be held May 19 to 21 at the McCormick Place Convention Center. The measure lets the mayor award no-bid contracts for the summit. Also, the Chicago Police Department can deputize personnel from other municipalities to police the city for NATO/G8.

The other ordinance, which passed 45-4, lays outs rules for obtaining a permit in order to hold a demonstration -- rules that will stay in place after the summits. This includes paying parade insurance to the city, and registering for a protest permit 15 days prior to the event. The ordinance also says that protesters must provide the city with a list of all signs, banners, sound equipment, or “attention-getting devices” that need more than one person to carry them.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th) gave an impassioned defense of the parade permit ordinance, saying it helps clarify police officers' duties. In a dig against protesters, Moore said that public discourse over the ordinance has been “marked by overheated rhetoric.”

“The ordinance does not stifle dissent,” Moore said. “We are voting today to clarify a confusing 40 year-old parade ordinance.”

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) did voice opposition at the council meeting. Hairston said the ordinance, "inhibits spontaneous public assembly" with its pre-registration requirements. Hairston also took issue with protesters having to describe what equipment and signs they plan to use.

But even Hairston struck a conciliatory note. “I will be voting 'no' on this, but I will be looking forward to something better,” Hairston said.

Outside Council Chambers

Protesters were not conciliatory. Speakers like Rev. Calvin Morris, the executive director of the Community Renewal Society, and Iraq War veteran Aaron Hughes charged that the mayor is plotting to silence their opposition.

“As my brothers and sisters are sent to Afghanistan supposedly to fight for democracy there, they erode our rights here,” Hughes declared as protesters held up signs like “Welcome to Chicago: You’re Under Arrest.”

Here is a video of the speeches from Harris and Hughes, and a look at the protest:

Arguably, such protesters bolster Moore’s point about overheated rhetoric. Some people interviewed were clear in their distaste for Emanuel, but unclear in their dislike for these specific ordinances.

Other protesters, though, did articulate specific gripes with the ordinances themselves – particularly the issue of pre-registering with city government in order to potentially protest said city government; though similar requirements were already part of city law via parade permit rules dating back to to the 1930s.

“If something egregious happens on a Tuesday, we should be able to have a large protest about it outside of City Hall on Wednesday,” says protester, Sam Brody, a student at the University of Chicago.

Also, the Coalition Against the NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda – which has successfully registered for a NATO/G8 protest permit – passed around a one-pager that succinctly listed their complaints with the ordinance. For example, the requirement of protesters reporting all big signs is “a license for the city to ‘ding’ organizers with absurd repeated fines.”

There is no way to know until May — or the next major protest — whether that claim, or others, has truth to it. In an international event full of uncertainty, what is most clear is that it could be a polarizing time for Chicago.

* Postel brought to PI's attention that this quote paraphrases something said originally by Occupy Chicago member Eveyln DeHais.