Protests have been largely calm compared to expectations heading into the Republican National Convention this week.
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The riverside pro-Trump rally attracted about a dozen attendees who showed up with handguns strapped to their belts as allowed under OH law.
The four-day Republican convention has drawn to a close with a total of only two dozen protest-related arrests. The one reported arrest as Cleveland police and law enforcement officers from across the USA maintained a visible presence downtown.
“We’re still out there, we’re still vigilant, to make sure we finish this day and the last day tomorrow on a positive note”, Police Chief Calvin Williams said Wednesday evening.
The symptoms, which can include vomiting and diarrhea, were first reported Thursday as logistics members arrived at a hotel about an hour west of Cleveland, said Pete Schade, Erie County health commissioner. “You’re blocking a city street”.
About 600 Cleveland officers were assigned to convention security duty along with thousands of officers from other agencies. Among them: Homeland Security investigators, Customs and Border Protection personnel, Coast Guard members, and the Ohio National Guard. That gathering had more of a focus, summed up with large banners reading “Dump Trump”. We’re not here to intimidate anyone. “There are laws against that sort of thing”, he said.
The “open carry” of firearms by those allowed to have weapons is a legal activity in OH, according to a state attorney general’s manual. Some opposition to open-carry gun laws comes from Republican politicians such as former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who said a year ago that he was not “fond of this open-carry concept”.
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.
Loomis also said officers here would begin ramping up inspections and oversight over anyone who is holstering a weapon entering the downtown area, where the Republican convention is scheduled to begin on Monday.
But there was at least one minor dustup involving right-wing religious demonstrators who got into a shouting match with some of the anti-Trump protesters. One local activist was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant.
Lawyers representing those arrested during the Wednesday afternoon protest near the arena housing the Republican National Convention said a 4 p.m. Thursday hearing was delayed because the court still hadn’t received charging documents.
Early in the afternoon, about 150 protesters carrying signs saying “Ban All Trumps Not Muslims” and chanting “Love Trumps Hate” marched across a Cleveland bridge, dutifully following the city-designated route for protest marches.
Kasich says the bonds between communities and police must be reset and rebuilt.
That’s true for Jack and Andy, two 18-year-olds from upstate NY who traveled to Cleveland to be a part of the protests.
Belle said she believes protest turnout has been modest because of concern that Ohio’s open-carry provision would bring large numbers of armed men into the streets.
Police officers are separating protest groups gathered in Cleveland’s downtown Public Square.
“I just knew I could do it”, said Gonzalez, a Trump supporter. Williams said purposefully, “M$3 y cause is for peace in this city and for everybody to be safe and I wear this white shirt and that white hat and you can find me anywhere, I am not hiding, I am not trying to be secret about it, so if you have something that you have to hide from, maybe you need to find something else”.
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It was the kind of tense scene that could quickly turn violent: frustrated police officers and stubborn protesters in a sweaty standoff in Cleveland’s stew-thick humidity.
