Flag Burning Sparks Violence And Arrests At The RNC

On day three, the first bit of violence erupted at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A protestor’s lighting of an American flag led to a mounted police intrusion and a number of arrests right at the entrance to the Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

“What happened today is that a flag was burned by Joey Johnson,” Carl Dix, a Communist activist in his mid-sixties told Vocativ. Gregory “Joey” Johnson has a history of lighting up the Stars ‘n Stripes: he was charged for burning a flag at the 1984 RNC in Dallas, but was later cleared by the Supreme Court in 1989, which ruled that flag burning is protected speech.

“He decided he would reprise his activity today as a statement against what’s going on here at the RNC where an outright fascist is being nominated for president,” Dix said. The burning was preceded by rumors among activists throughout the day that someone was planning to burn a flag.

After the flag was burned the entrance to the convention center temporarily closed and an unruly mass of leftwing activists, journalists, and the occasional Clevelander were trapped at the T shaped intersection. Police threatened some journalists with arrest for not moving back, and formed a wall with bikes blocking off Prospect Avenue. A number of Bikers for Trump escorted delegates through the scrum.

Dix says he was not surprised by the quick and violent police response, but insists that was not the act’s intent. “We didn’t come here to fight with Trump’s people. We came with a political statement,” he says.

USA Today reports at least five were arrested. There are also reports that two police officers were assaulted. The protest comes on the third day of a convention defined by major tensions between police and protesters.

“What happened here is the police vamped on people” says Dix. “They arrested people for taking a stance.”