Police did not identify any of those arrested Wednesday. Two of those arrested were charged with felonious assault on a police officer, the rest with failure to disperse.
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Johnson was the defendant in the case that led to the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled flag-burning constitutional. 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.
There were signs of the tension that has mounted around convention security concerns: Local police were a regular presence along with the Indiana State Police, who are some of the many law enforcement groups that have been called into Cleveland ahead of the convention this week. That has prompted concerns about the group’s intentions, Williams said. He says police had fire extinguishers during the event in which a flag was burned in protest.
The relative lack of arrests does not mean that Cleveland Police and the thousands of officers from states all over the country haven’t been busy, however.
Lt. Michael Butler of the Cleveland Police Department said Wednesday that charges were pending for between 10 and 16 people.
The demonstrators on Tuesday – including anti-Muslim protesters, religious conservatives and marchers decrying racism and “murder by police” – appeared outnumbered by law officers and members of the media.
He says those in custody will be formally booked at a city booking center.
A day earlier, Amnesty International, the human rights group, announced it would for the first time send trained observers to both the Republican and Democratic conventions to monitor police tactics.
Police issued a dispersal order for everyone, including reporters Wednesday in the area around Quicken Loans Arena.
Multiple people with their hands cuffed behind them were detained by police.
The flag-burning was organized by the Revolutionary Communist Party.
Spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia (chahch) says police are trying to work with protesters.
Police later told convention delegates to line up in the middle of the street and ordered bystanders to leave.
A Cleveland police officer says awareness is high in the department after recent shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Also, there is an Federal Bureau of Investigation tip line set up so if people see anything suspicious in their neighborhoods or near the convention, they can report it by calling 1-800-225-5324.
It was the most turbulent protest since the four-day convention began on Monday.
Officers, some wearing riot helmets, yelled at the crowd to move back as members of the flag-burning group locked arms and some in the crowd chanted: “It’s time, it’s time for a revolution”.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams was one of several officers in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people controlled.
Police used their horses to create a path to a van for people being detained. A number of local activists were on hand at the late morning protest in Public Square, which also included others like Gary Mathes, who came to Cleveland from Alaska with a tall cross in tow with no political interests other than spreading his belief in Jesus. We’re going to have two very passionate groups on opposite sides of the world as far as ideologies go.
Warm temperatures in the low 80s may be playing a role in keeping people away.
The head of Cleveland’s police union, Stephen Loomis, has been a leading critic of the city’s planning.
A small group protesting Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall between the US and Mexico is making its own wall in downtown Cleveland.
Standing at Cleveland Public Square with a few dozen other bicycle officers from Cleveland and Akron and Indiana State Troopers, Roshetsky received hugs and requests from pictures from passers-by. That gathering had more of a focus, summed up with large banners reading “Dump Trump”.
CLEVELAND Gunshots were heard near a police transportation vehicle by the site of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, police sources said.
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This statement came after Williams detailed a conversation he attempted to have with some of these individuals in Public Square last night who basically walked away from him. The man assaulted the officer, and “things escalated from there”, Williams said. He says the symptoms were first reported Thursday as logistics members arrived at a hotel about an hour west of Cleveland. Norovirus can be contracted from an infected person, from contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces.
