Protesters up the ante July 20 by burning a flag in front of the secure perimeter by the Quicken Loans Arena. According to witnesses, the protesters burned the flag, resulting in the police swarming them and arresting 5 individuals.
“All I know is they burned the flag and before they even got it they put it out,” protestor Hasheem Hill of Cleveland, Ohio said.
“The police arrested 5 people, after that I don’t know cause a whole bunch of reporters got in my way. All I know is 5 people got arrested and I saw the flag,” Hill continued.
After the flag burning police worked to regain control of the area outside Quicken Loans Arena. As officers did this, protestors began to leave the area and regroup down the street. During this time a protestor handed me a piece of paper, which gave insight about who the group is and what their goals are.
“Time To Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution,” said a message from the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
“The Revolutionary Communist Party is organizing now to overthrow this system at the soonest possible time. Preparing to lead an actual revolution to bring about a radically new and better society: the New Socialist Republic in North America, the message continued.”
After the protest came to an end I spoke with Vermin Supreme, an American performance artist and activist who is running for president this year.
“Burning the Flag is constitutionally protected free speech, as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Texas vs. Johnson,” Supreme explained.
When asked if police could stop people from burning the flag in public because its dangerous Supreme said, “ There’s not a lot of danger in that. It’s Symbolic. And sometimes a symbolic act takes a little bit of fire. But I’m not saying you should burn anything down. “
Knight News will continue to bring you updates here from Cleveland Ohio from the Republican National Convention.
