On Thursday afternoon, Stand Together Against Trump marched in Cleveland.
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A group calling itself the Revolution Club sent out a press release earlier saying that Joey Johnson, a “notorious flag burner and revolutionary communist”, would conduct civil disobedience in Cleveland.
Pushing and shoving broke out, and police began pinning people to the ground and handcuffing them.
A woman from the anti-war group Code Pink who was wearing a lab coat and had a toy stethoscope hanging from her neck held a sign that read: “Our political system is sick!”
Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said police were not nervous but trained and in place to keep the public safe.
Protesters march as police look on near Public Square on Thursday, July 21, 2016, in Cleveland, during the final day of the Republican convention.
The health commissioner for Ohio’s Erie County said Wednesday that the 11 people who fell ill are recovering and taking precautions not to spread norovirus, or what’s commonly known as stomach flu.
The Boston Herald reports that members from “Bikers for Trump”, a group formed to “promote and coordinate peaceful Bikers for Trump™ rallies and events nationwide”, confronted a group of protesters outside of the RNC convention who were in the process of burning the American flag.
Chief Calvin Williams said at a Friday news briefing that out-of-town officers were key contributors to Cleveland’s successful performance as convention host.
“You’re on fire! You’re on fire, stupid”, an officer could be heard yelling when the man who tried to start the blaze had his leg briefly catch fire.
But the training, experience from handling dozens of protests and new equipment resulted in a relaxed and friendly police presence – the same presence on display during the Republican National Convention.
He took charge Wednesday when a flag-burning turned into a melee.
The successful week could also serve to help heal the image of a police department that became part of the divisive national conversation on law enforcement and race after the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 and a federal report that found officers routinely misused force against black residents.
Lt. Michael Butler of the Cleveland Police Department said Wednesday that charges were pending for between 10 and 16 people. Officers on rooftops watched through binoculars, while police on bicycles pedaled along the streets with no other traffic.
“Most of that activity, we knew, would not be at the designated parade route”, Mayor Frank Jackson said, referring to the area zoned for protests, a path many activists called a “bridge to nowhere” as it routed demonstrators far from the convention site. “I think people underestimate the support people have for this division of police”. Cleveland’s heavy police presence discouraged others, protest leaders said. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
The health commissioner says officials are working to prevent any sick people from getting on planes.
Anti-government and anti-racism protesters are set to burn an American flag Wednesday at an undisclosed location.
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. Other officers were reportedly pushed and punched by protesters.
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Officers used bicycles to wall-off intersections and for the first time during the convention ordered demonstrators to disperse under the threat of arrest. Above, a protester marches against Donald Trump.
