As the 2016 Republican National Convention begins protestors fill the streets around the venue to have their voices heard.
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The first day of rallies outside the Republican National Convention featured angry rhetoric, armed attendees and an arrest, but authorities avoided the sort of violence they fear could still flare up.
As the protest was getting under way, witnesses said Alex Jones – a controversial radio show host who espouses various conspiracy theories – challenged the assembled crowd.
Kasich says OH governors don’t have the power to arbitrarily suspend federal and state constitutional rights or laws.
About 300 officers from more than a dozen law enforcement agencies are patrolling on bicycles in downtown Cleveland during the convention, the police chief said.
Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people lined a bridge leading into downtown Cleveland in a peaceful “Circle the City With Love” rally. Participants standing on opposite sides of the bridge from one end to the other held hands and stood in silence for several minutes.
Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams had a message for purposefully disruptive protesters at Tuesday morning’s media briefing: find another cause.
“Things that happen around the country and around the world do affect to some degree how we respond here in Cleveland”, Chief Calvin Williams said during an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation”.
Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters and foes had held dueling rallies a half-mile apart.
The issue was revived Sunday by the local police union following a deadly ambush of three police officers earlier in the day in Baton Rouge and the murders of five officers in Dallas earlier this month.
Also Tuesday, health officials said 11 members of the planning team for the California delegation to the Republican convention were recovering from a bout of norovirus, or what’s commonly known as stomach flu. He said he and his officers are there to support and protect the community’s rights to exercise the First and Second amendments.
The issue over open carry grew last week after reports that New Black Panther Party members would open carry during the RNC to protect protesters. John Kasich to suspend the law allowing gun owners to carry firearms in plain sight. Thacker says he was trying to make a statement about his rights.
The Coalition to Stop Trump was expected to be one of the larger demonstrations and was scheduled to start gathering near Public Square around noon. The city also has drawn unwanted national attention because of high-profile police shootings and use-of-force incidents that helped lead to an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the 1,500-member police department.
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Cleveland police received about one dozen calls Monday regarding activists acting what was perceived to be suspiciously, wearing masks or doing “mischievous stuff”, Williams said.
