CLEVELAND—Despite fears of large-scale protests during the Republican National Convention this week, heightened security measures made the outlook relatively calm.
As of Thursday afternoon, a total of 23 arrests have been made, largely for misdemeanors such as failure to disperse and disorderly conduct. The only major incident came Wednesday afternoon at the corner of East 4th Street and Prospect Avenue, where 18 arrests were made.
At the Wednesday incident, a group of demonstrators failed to disperse and attempted to block the entrance to the Quicken Loans Arena. One individual began to burn an American flag, according to Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams.
“People on the corner and the whole general area got amped up when this happened,” Williams said during a Wednesday press conference. “You can burn the flag legally as long as you’re not a danger while you’re doing it.”
Thousands of officers from states and cities across the country have been in Cleveland this week to assist with the convention. While the extra officers can detain people that they suspect are breaking any law, the detainees are referred to a Cleveland police officer who makes the final decision on whether to actually arrest someone or not.
Williams said that overall, the department’s planning has worked well.
“Most people are protesting peacefully. There’s only one group where the only reason they are here is to cause disruption, chaos and damaging property, but we are keeping tabs on them,” Williams said.
