Despite fears, initial street protests are mild at the GOP convention
Before the Republican National Convention began Monday, the volatile mix of Donald Trump, planned street protests and Ohio’s open-carry gun laws raised fears of clashes in Cleveland.
But aside from a raucous rock concert and a shouting match in a downtown park, the first day of the convention passed with few arrests and no violence.
Cleveland police reported two arrests connected to demonstrations Sunday and Monday as of 6 p.m., but one involved a warrant unconnected to the convention.
At one point Monday afternoon, a band of religious activists began to confront anti-Trump protesters. Police on bicycles quickly moved between them and prevented anything beyond a screaming match.
Earlier, Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist, led a large pro-Trump crowd in chants of “Hillary for Prison!” on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.
The two largest protests downtown saw several hundred people loudly denouncing the presumptive Republican nominee, as well as poverty and police brutality. Police said both protests ended peacefully.
So far at least, activists on both sides of the political spectrum seem more interested in message than melee.
“Our focus is not about trying to be louder than the next person,” said Devin Rodgers, 27, of Cleveland as men in military fatigues shouted profanities at the anti-Trump demonstrators with whom he was marching. “It’s about trying to show people who we are and get them to understand where we come from.”
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said officers broke up several minor clashes Monday, but none resulted in arrests or violence.
“We just wanted to make sure we got in there before anything got out of hand,” Williams said.
A few prohibited items, including a small knife and a slingshot, were seized from people trying to enter secured areas near the convention center and Quicken Loans Arena, Williams said.
Despite concerns about Ohio’s open-carry laws, especially after a gunman shot and killed three police officers Sunday in Baton Rouge, La., few weapons were visible along protest routes Monday.
Instead, confrontations relied on rhetoric. At midafternoon, half a dozen men, some wearing military fatigues, collided in a park with a swarm of anti-Trump protesters who had just finished a march.
Bullhorn in hand, their leader began chiding the anti-Trump protesters, hurling slurs against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The demonstrators drowned him out with a “Black Lives Matter” chant.
Police quickly separated the two groups, and no one was arrested.
Sara Flounders, a New Jersey resident in her late 60s, said she was happy to see groups unite against what she described as Trump’s exclusionary message.
“There is a real racist mobilization that is going on in this nation and it’s important to put a stop to it,” she said.
Follow Pearce and Queally on Twitter: @mattdpearce, @JamesQueallyLAT
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