GOP CONVENTION | Protesters hang anti-Trump banner at Rock Hall
CLEVELAND (AP) — Media outlets are reporting that four people have been arrested in Cleveland after climbing 60-foot flagpoles outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to hang a large banner that says, “Don’t ‘Trump’ Our Communities.”
The arrests were made Tuesday morning on the second day of the Republican National Convention.
The Rock Hall issued a statement Tuesday that says although the Rock Hall is an “icon of free speech,” officials discourage “illegal actions that stress our first responders.”
The banner also included “Ban Fracking” and “Tear Down The Wall,” a reference to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s call to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to stop illegal immigration.
Cleveland firefighters removed the banner Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the first day of rallies outside the Republican National Convention on Monday featured angry rhetoric, armed attendees and an arrest, but authorities avoided the sort of violence they fear could still flare up.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters Monday evening, “So far, so good.”
Hundreds of Trump supporters and foes had held dueling rallies a half-mile apart.
Williams says bicycle officers moved in several times to keep sniping between groups from becoming violent.
The one arrest involved a person on the city’s Public Square who had a felony warrant and also is being charged with resisting arrest and obstructing official business.
The riverside pro-Trump rally attracted about a dozen attendees who showed up with handguns strapped to their belts as allowed under Ohio law. Blocks away, protesters shouted about police mistreatment.