The 1968 democratic convention best known for police brutality against demonstrators has been relegated to a dark place in american historical memory battleground chicago ventures beyond the stereotypical image of rioting protestors and violent cops to reevaluate exactly how and why the police attacked antiwar activists at the convention. Battleground chicago the police and the 1968 democratic national convention by frank kusch 364 rating details 25 ratings 4 reviews did the police lose control of themselves in dealing with demonstrators during the 1968 democratic national convention or were they simply men who saw themselves as protecting their city from the forces of revolution kusch contends that chicagos . Battleground chicago the police and the 1968 democratic national convention by frank kusch. Battleground chicago the police and the 1968 democratic national convention westport ct and london praeger 2004 206pp chris gair university of birmingham the 1968 chicago democratic national convention is remembered as possibly the supreme illustration of the irreconcilable divisions within the united states at the height. Did the police lose control of themselves in dealing with demonstrators during the 1968 democratic national convention or were they simply men who saw themselves as protecting their city from the forces of revolution kusch contends that chicagos police were more than unthinking thugs that they had in effect become a counterculture even more so than the people they ended up attacking