DNC delegates throw themselves to the ground as man is shot at White Palace Grill
SOUTH LOOP – Colorado state Rep. Javier Mabrey was eating pancakes with DNC delegates at a South Loop diner early Friday after the Democratic National Convention when shots rang out.
The crowd at the White Palace Grill, 1159 S. Canal St., broke apart as two people exchanged about a dozen shots, Mabrey said. Glass shattered near the freshmen representative’s table.
“It’s not that big of a place, so the noise was right in our ears,” Mabrey said. “We were practicing the mass shooting. Honestly, for five minutes I thought someone might come by and shoot here.”
A 42-year-old man who left the restaurant around 3 a.m. Friday was shot by another man and taken to a local hospital in good condition with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
No one is in custody, police are investigating.
Mabrey, who said he wore a “freedom from gun violence” badge at the convention, was unharmed and took a flight back to Colorado Friday morning.
“It doesn’t change my opinion of Chicago,” Mabrey said. “Gun violence is an American problem.”
Mabrey is supporting the Democratic candidates of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the hopes they will push for stricter gun control, he said. Mabrey supports an assault weapons ban, universal background checks and waiting periods for firearm purchases.
“We need to do more,” Mabrey said. “The reality in Chicago, Denver, from Seattle to Lincoln, Nebraska and Uvalde, Texas, is that nowhere are we free from the fear of gun violence.”
He said he will remember his trip to Chicago most for the deep-dish pizza at Pequod’s, the dim sum in Chinatown and the “Chicago hot dogs everywhere.”
“I love this city and I will come back,” Mabrey said.
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