×

Protests ebb and flow near convention

CLEVELAND – Under Tuesday’s sweltering heat, Public Square was primed to burst by 4 p.m.

And that it did.

Protesters had slowly filled the square throughout the day until everyone stood shoulder to shoulder, and moving around became a struggle. When members of the Westboro Baptist Church marched in sporting signs saying, “Sinners” and, “All real Muslims are Jihadists,” a verbal clash brewed with Black Lives Matter protesters. At the same time, anti-police protesters called for an abolishment of the police and berated police officers who were present.

Tensions finally boiled over when a fight broke out between Austin, Texas-based radio host Alex Jones and a communist agitator, and Cleveland law enforcement was quick to respond. Police blasted through the crowd, repeatedly yelling, “Move, move, move!” Reinforcements were called to the scene, and they used their patrol bikes to make walls around protesters. Soon enough, hundreds of police officers descended on the area, taking control by forming a line that zigzagged from the square’s center to its perimeter.

The crowd eased up and dispersed, for the most part. But protesting was still alive. Above the swarm of cops, a massive sign that read, “F___ The Badge,” appeared, and pockets of protesters chanted, “F___ the police.”

However, as police took control of the situation, the chanting eventually faded away.

Cleveland’s Public Square is roughly three blocks away from the Quicken Loans Arena, which is hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention. Groups and individuals were allowed to use the space to protest, and a microphone was set up on the southeast side where protesters could speak for up to 30 minutes.

Groups and organizations of various beliefs and faiths from across the country gathered in Public Square to blast their messages.

Some protesters openly carried unloaded guns to protest gun control. Firearms were not banned by the city, unlike other items such as knives, glass bottles, water guns and soda cans.

As Tuesday’s crowd grew, I bumped into California resident Oskar Mosco stood in the middle of the city’s public square holding a white sign with words, “Why Vote?”

Before I could ask him a few questions, a man on a bicycle rode up to us, pointed at Mosco’s sign and aggressively said, “I have an answer to that question. People died giving you that right.” And then he rode off.

Mosco just smiled and brushed it off, and explained why he carried the sign.

“On the national level, it seems that voting doesn’t really do anything,” he said. “It seems the electoral college is a broken system. It may have worked in the colonial days, but in 2016, with misinformation in the media and the amount of disinterest, the system is just wrong.”

‘Fairly mellow’

Mosco said he plans to protest until the end of the convention Thursday. Despite the commotion of the day, he said the protests were fairly mellow and underwhelming.

“With how dangerous the situation is, you’d think there would be tens of thousands of people out here, so I think it goes to show people are disenfranchised across the board,” he said.

Massachusetts resident Thomas Moore said he was also disheartened by what he thinks is a low turnout considering the public outcry against Trump and the Republican Party.

Moore carried a sign that read, “Grand Old Party, Same Old Klan.”

“I believe that Trump and the GOP in general stands for and enforces the same kind of white supremacist, misogynist, homophobic hate that this country has been dealing with since before the founding,” he said.

But not everyone in the square was against Trump and the Republican Party.

Julian Raven, an artist and alternate delegate from New York state, brought a large mural of Trump to public square. The painting stuck out like a sore thumb, and media scrambled to speak with Raven.

Along with touting his painting, which took him 600 hours to complete last year, Raven called Trump a natural leader.

“Trump’s a problem solver,” he said. “He see’s a problem, he wants to fix, and he’s going to fix it. He’s a leader, he’s a change agent.”

Meanwhile, at the Q …

For the New York state delegates participating in the convention, protesting was out of sight and out of mind.

Jefferson County GOP Chair and delegate-at-large Donald G.M. Coon III said he and other delegates use a route to get to the arena that is far from the clamoring crowds.

“I haven’t seen any protesters, and it’s had absolutely no effect on our delegation that I know of,” he said.

Watertown insurance broker John Doldo III agreed, noting that security has done well to keep the area safe.

Michael T. McCormick, Dutchess County GOP Committee chair and delegate for the 19th district, said he was glad protesting ended up not being a huge security concern.

“I am pleasantly surprised. Protesting is minimal overall. “I’m not seeing what I, and other people, thought was going to be a problem.”

Assemblyman David P. DiPietro, a delegate with the 27th Congressional District, said he also hasn’t encountered protesting at all during his stay in Cleveland. He praised the convention’s security, which he equated to law enforcement who helped maintain order in Buffalo during New York’s presidential primary, where he campaigned for Trump.

“I give a lot of credit to Cleveland police and everyone doing security,” DiPietro said.

Orleans County GOP Chair Edward F. Morgan, another 27th district delegate, said he was initially nervous about protests before coming to Cleveland.

“I was very concerned about security and safety of everybody, but I think Cleveland has done a great job,” he said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today