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Chicago police, FBI to boost pride parade security

The Chicago parade has drawn nearly 1 million people and organizers say they expect crowds this year will be as big or larger

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In this June 28, 2015 file photo, people smile and gesture during the annual Chicago Pride Parade in Chicago.

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Associated Press

CHICAGO — Chicago police say the massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida has prompted the department to beef up security at this weekend’s gay pride festival and next weekend’s gay pride parade.

Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Thursday that there’s no information about any credible threat to the parade but that but that the additional uniformed and plainclothes officers will be dispatched out of “an abundance of caution.”

In Colorado, organizers of the pride parade in Denver say they are taking similar precautions.

The Chicago parade has drawn nearly 1 million people and organizers say they expect crowds this year will be as big or larger as many in the LGBT community have told them they want to demonstrate their solidarity with the victims of the massacre in Orlando.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press

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