CHICAGO (AP) — As attendees left the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, they were greeted with chants from pro-Palestinian protesters calling on the party to do more to end the war in Gaza.

The group chanted “Ceasefire now” and “Shame on you” while one woman folded a campaign sign for the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign team over her head.

David Peterson, 50, said he wanted to advocate for the Palestinian voice, especially within the convention.

“Everyone who speaks out will save a life,” he said. “This is a chance, a window of opportunity.”

The protests in the final hours of the party conference ended similarly to how they had begun earlier in the week – largely peaceful and in a family-friendly atmosphere.

As Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on the DNC stage, one final large-scale protest ended on a hopeful note. Protesters occupied the street beneath the train tracks on Lake Street for nearly 30 minutes, chanting, “We are young, we are strong, we will protest all night long.”

Only a few dozen protesters remained near Union Park late Thursday, briefly clashing with police. The small group had planned to march toward the convention center but was stopped by lines of police in riot gear who shouted “stand back” as they charged into the group. Several of the protesters pushed forward, with some firing wooden signs down at the officers.

Police handcuffed an activist as he waved a large black flag on a busy street. Another police officer rolled up the flag and took it away. Demonstration leaders soon told the remaining protesters to go home.

Before the march, the lawn in Union Park was filled with Palestinian flags and loudspeakers played Palestinian dance songs. The gathering was organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, a group of more than 200 organizations that held a similar event on Monday night.

The march began with a crowd of thousands slowly winding through the residential areas surrounding the United Center. Some wore red T-shirts reading “Not in our name,” while others held signs reading “End U.S. aid to Israel.” They stopped on the march route to turn toward the convention center and chanted, “DNC, you will see. Palestine will be free.”

A heavy police presence was visible as protesters marched down the blocks from the United Center, including at the site where a small group of activists breached an outer perimeter fence earlier in the week. In addition to police on bicycles along the route, protesters were followed by about 100 officers in riot gear and more than 20 police vehicles.

As protesters slowly approached Union Park, where the rally had begun more than two hours earlier, they shook tambourines and shouted over the roar of drums and the noise of the train overhead: “I think we’re going to win.”

Protesters were trying to draw attention to what they see as a lack of Palestinian voices in the DNC arena. Lisa Pint, a 61-year-old volunteer who wears buttons supporting Democratic candidates Harris and Tim Walz, stood at the edge of the crowd and said she wanted to watch the protest as a “neutral” observer. But after speaking with an activist, she came to the conclusion that a Palestinian voice should be represented on the convention stage, Pint said.

“I didn’t think of it until a protester said it. That’s a good point,” said Pint, a nurse from suburban Chicago. “I’m very pro-Kamala and pro-Walz, but they should have been included.”

Leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement, which received hundreds of thousands of votes in the Democratic primaries across the country in protest against the war between Israel and Hamas, expressed frustration ahead of the convention that weeks of negotiations to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the DNC had stalled.

Chicago police said Thursday they would not change their tactics and were prepared for a final night of pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention after the peaceful march resulted in no injuries or arrests.

On Wednesday evening, more than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had previously gathered, a day after a much smaller, unsanctioned demonstration outside the Israeli consulate in downtown Chicago turned violent with clashes between police and protesters that resulted in 56 arrests.

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