Genevieve Walters wasn’t looking for violence but would have welcomed it.
Walters was among 100 protesters outside the Richmond Coliseum who angrily chanted expletives, stared down police and taunted supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as they entered the arena for a rally last month.
As the protest shifted to the city’s streets, Walters tugged on a bandanna soaked with apple cider vinegar – an anti-tear-gas tool straight from the protester’s handbook – hoping that things would turn more confrontational.
“Historically, the only thing that has stopped fascism is violence,” said Walters, 28, a Richmond massage therapist. “It’s the only thing that stands up to fascism. Trump’s a fascist. He’s a bigot. He’s a hawk. So fight, like, blow back.”
As the Republican National Convention approaches, several security experts, convention attendees and even the prospective protesters fear that Cleveland might erupt into violence reminiscent of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, where an estimated 10,000 protesters showed up to oppose the Vietnam War. Confrontations ensued between police and protesters that left hundreds injured and resulted in nearly 600 arrests.
“There’s a potential for that to happen,” said Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington research center. “There’s a lot of agitation on both sides.”
A turbulent political season fueled by the unpredictability of Trump supporters and opponents already has resulted in violent clashes at campaign events in San Jose and Burlingame, California, Chicago and Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Cleveland government and law enforcement officials insist they’re ready to host the 50,000 convention visitors, 15,000 media members and thousands of protesters expected to descend on the city and keep them safe. The city has sought to triple the size of its 1,600-member police force by recruiting officers from Ohio and other states.
Cleveland will be adequately staffed, Police Chief Calvin Williams wrote in an open letter on the department’s website and Facebook page Wednesday. “Our officers have trained with many partnering agencies at the local, state and federal level to ensure that the highest safety standards are maintained.”
The city’s municipal court is clearing jail space to process up to 1,000 people per day, Cleveland.com reported. Government officials increased Cleveland’s liability coverage from $10 million to $50 million to better protect it against damage from protests or other potentially violent acts.
“Given the climate nationally and internationally, the risk assessment was higher than it’s been for other conventions,” Cleveland Finance Director Sharon Dumas told The Associated Press last week.
City officials had initially planned a massive, 3.5-mile “event zone” zone with restrictions on protests and parades that would have made demonstrations near the Quicken Loans Arena — the site of the convention — nearly invisible to conventioneers.
But the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union sued the city on behalf of pro- and anti-Trump groups. The ACLU and the city reached a settlement last week that reduced the perimeter to 1.7 square miles, giving more room to demonstrators and expanding a parade route for marching in downtown areas.
The plan also increases times between protests, which pro- and anti-Trump groups say will help decrease the likelihood of confrontations.
Police and FBI agents visited several Cleveland-area activists last month who plan to demonstrate during the July 18-21 convention, to gauge what to expect.
“We expect it to be peaceful; we don’t expect to get arrested,” said Randy Cunningham, a 66-year-old local anti-poverty activist who was interviewed by Cleveland police detectives. “But anytime you get a protest, something could go squirrelly. All these people are going to be coming in, and they’ve got their own agenda.”