Several protests took center stage outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland Wednesday.
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Further criticism – and legal action — came after officers conducted a mass arrest of more than five-dozen protesters the night of Brelo’s acquittal.
Stuart Muszynski, co-founder of the suburban Cleveland-based Purple America, a group focused on public civility, applauded police for managing protests “in a responsible way”.
The chief complaint about the police during the convention was the delayed release of those who were arrested.
“There were three police and two photojournalists for every protester”, Link said.
Johnson was the defendant in the case that led to the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled flag-burning constitutional.
Cleveland has breathed a sigh of relief as the Republican convention concluded with about two dozen arrests over four days thanks to a massive police presence and protesters’ own concerns for their safety.
The Cleveland mayor and police chief reported just 24 arrests over the past week related to the convention, which all but shut down the city’s central business district and attracted thousands of delegates, media, demonstrators and others from across the country and around the world.
“There are people that their only reason for being here is disruption, disorder, chaos, hurting people and damaging property”, Williams said. “I don’t think that this is an all new Cleveland Police Department”, she said, adding that the city’s powerful police union has still been largely resistant to reforms outlined in a 2014 federal consent decree.
“You’re on fire! You’re on fire, stupid!” a Cleveland officer shouted as he wielded a can of extinguishing spray. Later Thursday evening, kids played in Public Square fountains and a group gave out free hugs.
He says those in custody will be formally booked at a city booking center.
He said most of the arrests were made in the aftermath and were not because of the flag-burning.
Police took about a dozen people into custody Wednesday as scuffles broke out during a flag-burning protest in the streets outside the Republican National Convention.
Another line of police officers forced a different group of protesters to turn toward Lake Erie and away from the arena.
Multiple people with their hands cuffed behind them were detained by police. Observers from Amnesty International said they were “somewhat impressed” with how police handled demonstrations. Firefighters took it down.
Members of the support team for the California delegation to the Republican National Convention have been hit with a norovirus outbreak. Soon, they were flanked by a small army of police officers, who formed a human wall that let through only delegates and others with credentials.
Cleveland Police said that a dispersal order was issued to protesters to leave the Public Square shortly before 5 p.m. ET.
The crowds and the police presence were some of the largest and most raucous gatherings in downtown Cleveland since the convention got underway Monday.
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.
Officers, some wearing riot helmets, yelled at the crowd to move back as members of the flag-burning group locked arms amid chants of “It’s time, it’s time for a revolution”.
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Hours after dispersing the crowd, Cleveland police tweeted that the officers had been punched and pushed during the brief melee.
