Wednesday’s incident saw the largest number of arrests during the four-day convention, which ends on Thursday, and brought the total number arrested to 23, according to officials.
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Protests in Cleveland surrounding the Republican National Convention have been in full swing since the event’s opening day Monday, and on Wednesday emotions were running high as police made several arrests after at least two officers were assaulted, sustaining minor injuries.
“I am still a police officer, and if something happens and I’m there, I’ll handle it”, Williams said. “We’re all pleasantly surprised”.
Protesters refused dispersal orders and pushed police officers before firefighters extinguished and took the flag that protesters attempted to destroy.
Previous protests around the convention have been largely peaceful. He rode a bicycle through crowds for three hours Tuesday and was seen acting as a peacekeeper.
“If I’m out there and something’s happening, I don’t just stand by”.
“No arrests yesterday”, Williams said.
The peace may be due to smaller than expected numbers of protesters and greater than expected numbers of law enforcement.
“The protesters and the police were getting along”, he said.
“We want to wall off the hate of Trump”, said Tim Chavez, of Columbus. By Thursday evening, law enforcement officers appeared to relax.
“We weren’t expecting to deal with this many press people, but we’re trying to handle it the same as we would any other crowd”, a Cleveland police officer said.
Trump said on Thursday that Cleveland police were doing “an incredible job”. “That’s not one that I think is particularly thoughtful…Burning something down, whether it’s a flag, whether it’s a home, whether it’s a country, is a poor way to express yourself”. “We have a duty and responsibility to keep everybody safe”. And expect promises to restore America to a position of dominance in the world that they’ll say has been lost.
“We had big groups that said they were coming in that got dwindled down to nothing”, said Larry Bresler, lead organizer of a Stop Poverty Now rally. He said these few groups are the only ones causing problems while the majority of demonstrators are exercising First Amendment rights and trying to get a message across.
Police used pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators chanting slogans against the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump.
“It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates”, Trump, Jr. said, “Congratulations Dad, we love you”.
Police also placed syringes on a list of items banned in the protest zone created for the Republican National Convention after unconfirmed reports of officers being injured with syringes.
The others arrested at the RNC include a woman with an outstanding felony warrant and a man who on Sunday tried to take the gas mask off an officer.
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Shouting “The only solution is revolution”, half a dozen activists were arrested without resistance after chaotic situations developed outside the police perimeter set up around the Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention is being held and where Trump’s vice presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, is scheduled to address the Republican delegates Wednesday evening.
