Cleveland RNC protests begin amid armed tension

Update day 3, July 19: Resist RNC banner hang between two flagpoles at the Rock "N Roll Hall of Fame. Banner hang crew arrested. Two arrests reported yesterday as well. Police say report of shots fired at a police wagon this morning is FALSE rumor. During the afternoon, "thousands of protesters" were reported even by mainsteam media just blocks from the convention. When a neo-nazi entered Public Square and tried to pick a fight, the police presence suddenly quadrupled. Cops were reported permitting people to leave but not to enter, sort of a "reverse kettle." Police pushed the crowd into three separate sections. Cops armed with heavy tear gas launchers reported on the scene as well as horse cops.

Update day 2, July 18: One of two planned anti-Trump marches climbs over barricade across permitted route, gets within sight of Quicken Loans Arena. Lots of pens but few cops compared to size of crowd(busy elsewhere?). The barricade across the route was probably illegal and certainly ineffective, as the crowd flowed over it like water over a dam. First day of the actual convention and the pens are already not entirely effective. One arrest and a "scrum" around it reported. Meanwhile, more photos of armed pro-Trump protesters have come out showing rifles and in once case a large knife.

July 17, Day 1-it begins:

On the 17th of July protests against Donald Trump and then GOP Convention in Cleveland kicked off under extreme tension. Earlier in the morning was the armed attack on police in Baton Rouge, LA, and both the Bikers for Trump and the New Black Panther Party intend to march armed, taking advantage of Ohio's legal open carry law. The head of the main police union in Cleveland begged the governor to suspend Ohio's "open carry" law but Gov Kasich responded he does not have the authority to to so. This as some of the Bikers for Trump began rallying in public with semiautomatic rifles slung on their backs or shoulders.

In the morning of July 17 over 100 nude women staged the first protest and had few problems. On the other hand, the afternoon Shut Down Trump march towards the area of the Quicken Loans arena was "escorted" by huge numbers of bike cops-and trucks filled with Secret Service cops toting probably fully automatic M4 rifles. According to one report, bike cops were wobbling in their saddles during slow parts of the march when they could not simply zoom past. Despite the pressure and insane "security," by 7:15PM EDT protesters had gotten within ten blocks of the Quicken Loans Arena, site of the GOP Convention.

Jacob Rascon video of Shut Down Trump as they got to about ten blocks from the Quicken Loans Arena