Police Chief Calvin Williams and U.S. Secret Service officials told cleveland.com last week that they observed officers employing this tactic at protests in Washington D.C. At rallies, police officers appeared swiftly and often outnumbered the protesters.
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Cleveland was aided in the security effort by 2,800 officers from hundreds of law enforcement agencies, including those from across the Midwest and as far away as New Jersey and California.
That clash, which police say started when a flag burner accidentally lit himself on fire, turned chaotic as a total of 17 people were arrested and two officers suffered minor injuries.
“There were no shots fired on any of our police transport vehicles right now near the Quicken Loans Arena”, officials said in a statement released by the Joint Information Center overseeing security at the four-day event.
And Wednesday afternoon, as officers broke up a flag-burning protest and pushed the crowd back onto the sidewalk, several Republican delegates and their guests loudly thanked the officers and broke out into “America The Beautiful”.
Among those arrested was Gregory “Joey” Johnson, whose torching of a flag at a GOP convention three decades ago led to the landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said flag-burning is protected by the First Amendment.
Alex Jones, second from right, an American conspiracy theorist, radio show host, is escorted out of a crowd of protesters after he said he was attacked in Public Square on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, in Cleveland, during the seco…
“There are people that don’t want to just protest”, Williams said.
Police attempted to create a line between several protesters with their arms locked in a circle before the scene quickly escalated.
“You’re on fire! You’re on fire, stupid!” a Cleveland officer shouted at a protester while firing the extinguishing spray.
A small group protesting Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall between the USA and Mexico is making its own wall in downtown Cleveland. Those arrested face charges including inciting violence and felonious assault on a police officer.
As a protest group tried to burn an American flag near Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, and police had to use a fire extinguisher when an individual’s trousers caught fire.
The four-day convention has drawn thousands of delegates, political watchers, and protesters to Cleveland.
An anti-Donald Trump march is underway in Cleveland on the fourth and final day of the Republican National Convention.
Though still gathered in large numbers, police seemed more relaxed as the evening went on.
Police officers used bicycles and their bodies to separate those with opposing views. Gawkers and police officers milled about, and children played in the fountains. Not like the other people who stay in the office. A short time later, Williams confronted a group of what he called “hooligans” who marched onto the square dressed as anarchists and gave them an “ultimatum” to get off the streets.
A Latino social justice organization is holding an exercise on the city’s Public Square to “wall off” what they see as Trump’s hateful rhetoric.
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Bar and restaurant owners in downtown Cleveland say the expected boom in business from the Republican National Convention has been a bust.
