Police did not identify any of those arrested Wednesday. Two black men were shot to death by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, and eight officers were killed in two ambushes in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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That brought to 22 the number of people arrested during the convention, well below the many hundreds some feared.
In the flag incident, Williams said that when a protestor lit the flag, the protestor’s trousers caught on fire at East Fourth St. and Prospect Avenue.
Hundreds of demonstrators who had gathered in Cleveland’s Public Square have scattered ahead of Donald Trump’s prime-time acceptance speech on the last night of the Republican convention.
Cleveland police on Wednesday made 18 arrests and reported that two officers had been assaulted after a protester attempted to light an American flag on fire outside the security barrier surrounding the Republican National Convention, authorities said.
The department did not put a number on people expected at the convention, but the population continues to grow as of yesterday, he said.
Ciaccia said officers were investigating and urging people not to take stickers from people they don’t know.
He says those in custody will be formally booked at a city booking center.
Fears about violent clashes between groups supporting and opposing Trump’s nomination didn’t materialize on the first day of the convention. The tight quarters are where delegates and media walking to Quicken Loans Arena enter the security perimeter.
Multiple people with their hands cuffed behind them were detained by police.
Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party said the group organized the burning of the American flag as a “political statement about the crimes of the American empire”.
Police say the flag was extinguished and taken away.
Another line of police officers forced a different group of protesters to turn toward Lake Erie and away from the arena. One officer was seen bleeding from his elbow.
Open carrying during the convention has not been a problem for officers as of Monday.
“The incident, which attracted upward of 200 law enforcement officers from dozens of departments, including Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, was the most heated of what has been a mostly subdued protest scene in the city’s downtown”.
Williams himself joined in a prayer circle with protesters and passersby in a public park Wednesday evening.
An anti-Trump rally never really materialized, drawing just a few dozen people.
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.
Others held a banner saying, “Wall Off Trump”.
There were no signs of trouble. On Tuesday, skirmishes broke out among demonstrators.
A scuffle broke out Tuesday afternoon when conspiracy theorist and radio show host Alex Jones started speaking in downtown’s Public Square. 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.
Health officials say about a dozen people are affected by the virus, with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea.
Health officials are still trying to identify the source.
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.
“We want to wall off the hate of Trump”, said Tim Chavez, of Columbus.
Other protests are also planned.
Left-leaning activist groups pushing for “economic justice” and an “America First Unity March” sponsored by Citizens for Trump will hit the streets of Cleveland.
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The intersection of East Fourth and Prospect has been a busy spot during the convention.
