First, a bit of Sunday-breakfast news: Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Police Chief Calvin Williams addressed media at 9 a.m. to thank Saturday’s peaceful protesters and to once again condemn any violent response to the Michael Brelo acquittal.
Williams said that 71 people were arrested Saturday, on charges ranging from ‘failure to disperse’ to ‘felonious assault.’ One violent protester, according to Williams, threw a sign at a Harry Buffalo patron early in the evening. Others were said to have pepper sprayed bystanders at or around E. 9th.
The vast majority, though, according to this reeling eye-witness alt-weekly correspondent, were picked off one by one by an efficient and highly trained police force in riot gear, snatching and zip-tying all those who questioned their authority and might by approaching an advancing front line on Euclid Avenue and later, on Johnson Court in the Warehouse District. At the latter location, between 10 and 11 p.m., so many protesters were arrested that they had to be carted away for processing by bus.
Quick note: I suspect, as always, that parts of the police reports are true, but I didn’t arrive downtown until shortly after 8 p.m., when protesters were making their way from the Justice Center to Tower City. I’m basically trusting only that which I saw with my own two eyes at this point, and will qualify all other facts accordingly.
In the Harry Buffalo reports last night, for instance, police told media that a protester threw an object “through the window” of Harry Buffalo and “a woman was injured.”
A Harry Buffalo employee Sunday morning confirmed the incident, though it varies from original police reports. The employee wasn’t there last night (he was working at Barrio, which also closed early) but heard from others that a protester took the A-frame “specials” sign and threw it at a patron, who the employee said was briefly knocked unconscious. Asked if the broken window had been cleaned up, he responded that Harry Buffalo has garage-door-style windows and they were up at the time. Asked if he knew how the woman was doing, he responded that it was “an older gentleman.”
This isn’t to say that the incident was any more or less serious — though who knows what words were exchanged before the sign was thrown, or whether or not the “protester” was indeed a protester — only that police reports can’t be trusted 100-percent. (This feels almost superfluous, almost even humdrum, these days, but still.)
At roughly 9 p.m., on E. 4th St., among the densely occupied patios between Prospect and Euclid, a skirmish broke out. This is true. Williams said that a protester assaulted a patron and that he (=the protester) and two others were arrested. The police then moved in, Williams said, because the protest was getting violent.
Here’s what I saw:
The E. 4th corridor was a nightmare scenario. Protesters arrived from the Justice Center after briefly sitting down at the intersection of Prospect and Ontario, in the shadows of the Horseshoe Casino and the Tilted Kilt. Like most of the developments during these downtown protests, the E. 4th detour was extemporized.
Flannery’s and Zocalo were spilling over with baseball fans in hometown gear. Two hours worth of post-baseball beers had been merrily imbibed. The patios of Lola, Wonder Bar and Greenhouse were packed with the affluent suburban crowd — one of whom declared audibly that watching the protesters made her “physically sick” — and the protesters, many of whom had been shouting and walking all day, were energized by the effect. Some of the internal commentary centered on the idea that a lot of money stood to be lost if demonstrators camped out on 4th. This would send a message, some of them said.
The chanting was for the most part uninterrupted — “No Justice, No Peace,” “Whose Streets, Our Streets,” etc. — and many of the gathered media were sort of rolling their eyes as they tried to heft their cameras through the throng and get a handle on the proceedings.
E. 4th, for the non-locals, is for all intents and purposes a pedestrian-only street running North-South in the heart of Cleveland’s downtown. It’s near Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena and has emerged, in recent years, as a bona fide “entertainment district” with restaurants by local celebrity chefs, glossy branding campaigns and low-slung nighttime lights. It’s eclectic, photogenic, real nice.
A logjam situation asserted itself in very short order. A few of the protesters up front were urging the throng to keep moving, to head toward Euclid, but a fair number in the middle were trying to keep the chants going and couldn’t hear directives from anywhere. A street guitarist, trying to lighten what was becoming an extremely tense mood, struck up a brisk and folksy “This Land is Your Land” while a protester bopped beside him with a sign that read “Ignorance is murder.”
The moment thus inscribed with a discordant score, a subtle movement in the crowd was detectable outside Chef Jonathan Sawyer’s Greenhouse Tavern.
Before I saw the red drink go airborne, I heard several women shout “NO” — my interpretation then, as now, is that nearby protesters saw hostile words being exchanged and wanted to prevent a confrontation at all costs. But it was too late. I heard (did not see) that some additional things were thrown, and an open space began to form, not unlike the ring that forms around a central dancer at wedding receptions.
At this moment, I hopped over the patio railing of what I think was the Erie Island Coffee Company. But the skirmish seemed to have died down in seconds. The fearless patio crowds whipped out, or adjusted the aim of, their mobile devices.
Enough people were eager to see peace preserved that reps on both sides corralled the respective offenders. I saw a woman on the Greenhouse Patio screaming and crying as a man held her back. Among the protesters, a young black man with a scarf over his face (who was later arrested) was held back by a few guys.
Protesters later said that the scarfed man was indeed saying some things that would upset the sensibilities of the white Saturday cocktail crowd, but said also that there was racist heckling being lofted from the other side. (For those who aren’t aware, this happens at every protest, the heckling. It’s gross. It’s very sad, sort of the bigoted, self-righteous, and often unconscious underbelly (or maybe just belly) of white America’s vastest ideological swath.)
But okay: A red drink was flung. A protester I spoke with later in the night said he was close enough to have gotten splattered with it. Said it was very sticky. Said also that the flinger’s friends (or at least those seated nearby) then threw their drinks at protesters and the protesters threw plastic water bottles back at the Greenhouse patio in retaliation. Some shoving evidently transpired before the seas were calmed. There was shoving everywhere. Everyone was shoved.
And then — huzzah, huzzah — the police arrived, walking in formation from Prospect, to a standing ovation from the patrons on all sides. You’d think it were Seal Team 6.
The protesters were forced out fully onto Euclid by the cops in a situation that was bearing greater and greater resemblance to a standoff, and one protester was being arrested against the hood of a police vehicle. The media, rest assured, was eating all this shit up.
Things then promptly approached the edge of reason.
That ought to have been it, is my feeling. A dust-up, sure. A couple of arrests to remind protesters that even though drinks and epithets would be flung in their direction, they must please refrain from feloniously assaulting the clientele, especially in a hoppin’ district like E. 4th St. For God’s sake, there’s a Cavs game tomorrow. Let’s why don’t we stay out of the papers?
But if, for instance, a few Cleveland Police officers in plainclothes, or even regular police uniform, had a conversation with protesters — “That got outta hand. It’s getting dark, let us know where you’re headed and we’ll keep folks safe and informed. And please try not to intentionally engage with downtown visitors or patio-people” — that would’ve been it.
Instead, the riot police arrived. Battalions of them, assembling on Euclid as the protesters, either shouting or slackjawed, expressed the emotional equivalent of “what in the actual fuck?” And the sun was going down.
At the start, it was the shielded, masked officers on one side of Euclid, south of the median, chanting like some horror-show Gregorian gestapo: “MOVE BACK MOVE BACK MOVE BACK MOVE BACK.”
Except the protesters were by no means advancing. For the most part they were just confused. There was a police presence on E. 9th, five blocks behind them, so the only possible scenario for riot officers was pushing the quote unquote violent agitators toward a much busier intersection. The media, backpedaling on Euclid and frantically calling producers to give them the scoop whilst navigating cords, idled somewhere between amazed and amused. If it weren’t so outrageously unjust, it would have been comical: the excessive, unnecessary police equipment, the frankly performative military formations.
But it wasn’t funny. A few bold protesters approached the advancing police line shouting in their faces. These are likely the “aggressive” protesters to which Chief Calvin Williams referred, the irony of course being the aggression was in direct response (and not even close to commensurate with) the aggression on the part of the police.
By training or temperament, behind the masks, the riot officers communicated an utter absence of emotion. (And there’s an argument somewhere in all this about how donning a depersonalizing riot uniform predisposes and may even, like, emotionally absolve an officer from perpetrating acts of police-state injustice). Point is, for the protesters, meaningfully communicating with this phalanx was like communicating with a drywall slab.
Still, they sure tried. A few the protesters screamed at the police. A few of them wore scarves over their faces. Some had taken off their shirts and were almost daring the officers to arrest them while reminding them of Tamir Rice, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams via shouts and taunts.
But let’s be clear: There was not a concentrated number of protesters at this point. It’s hard to tell because they were already, in many respects, dispersed, but there was certainly no more than 20-30 near the advancing officers. It looked to me like these officers weren’t trying to prevent a riot. They were trying to trap loners and those clearly not trained in the strategies (and let’s face it, etiquette, of nonviolent protest).
A note, once again: There are a number of skilled and veteran organizers who have helped plan many of Cleveland’s demonstrations over the past six months. They often liaise with police and, most importantly, train novice protesters. But there are also, in every protest, those who join the marches in solidarity. These are not “violent opportunists,” as some have characterized them, but they are certainly animated by the message and less familiar with, as one organizer put it to me, the “proper ways to agitate.”
The police moved swiftly and in unison when they pounced, the front line parting at the middle and an arrow of five or six officers in shields sprinting out through the aperture to grab a protester who’d come too close, and then immediately closing rank.
Predictably, this tactic, which was extremely successful in part because “aggressive protesters” were so vastly outnumbered, incited even greater resentment and aggression in those inclined toward aggression by the presence of militarized law enforcement in the first place. One woman came out in front of the protesters and urged them not to engage the officers. (Though even if they hadn’t, they still likely would’ve been arrested, as Chief Williams made clear, for “failure to disperse.)
By the time the officers reached E. 8th, a voice on the police loudspeaker was repeating at intervals that “this is an unlawful assembly” and those who did not disperse would be arrested. Indeed, Williams noted this morning that many were arrested for unlawful congregation.
By then, the numbers had appreciably thinned. A great many had dispersed or else been taken into police custody.
Later in the evening, the largest number of protesters were arrested in the Johnson Court alley in the Warehouse District. Police barred entrance on the W. 6th and W. 9th entrance to the alley so I couldn’t see what happened therein, but from W. 9th, I watched a bus slowly fill with protesters who had no exit.
Here’s Chief Williams’ comments from this morning, once more: “We only moved into make arrests when things got violent and protesters refused to disperse,” he said. “We wanted to make sure people understand we are going to help you in this process, but if things turn violent, we will take action to preserve safety.”
But how could protesters disperse, one might ask, if there’s nowhere to disperse to? Protesters were trapped in there. They were interred.
More on this as the Memorial Day weekend unfolds.
Tips or comments, please send with as much cordiality as you see you fit, to sallard@clevescene.com / @SceneSallard
This article appears in May 20-26, 2015.
Did you catch the police on motorcycles revving the engines as protestors walked by (thereby drowning them out) in front of E 6th? That seemed like an act of passive aggression that really unnecessarily pushed things to another level.
I have been involved in many a protest in my day, and if they get out of hand, it is generally because
1) A few hotheads in the protest crowd are so amped up, they HAVE to physically attack SOMETHING…ANYTHING. I have even seen these people get into arguments and fights with EACH OTHER!
2) Outsiders who come into the area with the specific purpose to pour gasoline on the emotions for their own agenda.
3) Hoodlums and thieves who blend in to take advantage of the bedlam to loot and destroy property.
4) Young teenage boys who think this is all cool and just want to cause trouble.
I’m sorry. It may not be politically correct, but there is nothing wrong with peaceful protest. As I said, I have taken part in many myself. But I’ll be damned if some hoodlum is going to attack my patrons or damage my property. The CVS footage from Baltimore made me physically ill.
I was watching for hours via channel 3 and channel 5’s live web stream and I and heard things that disgusted me. Right before the protestors entered E. 4th, which they shouldn’t of even been allowed, the were chanting “F*ck the Police”. I’m sorry my friend but that’s not sending a peaceful message. I also heard someone say earlier, while they were still in front of the Justice Center say “let’s burn this bitch down”. There were many arguments that broke out amongst the rioters, starting earlier in the day because some were a lot more aggressive then others. I knew all the left wing liberal news would never share these VERY IMPORTANT facts, I am thankful I got to hear and see them for myself and know what the truth is and can help make people aware of it!
@Dilallns, the protestors chanting”F*ck the Police” was so welcoming to the cops!
The problem with protest in this day is there are too many “bad apples” that can spoil the whole bunch. This makes the point of a “peaceful demonstration” pointless. The only winning move is not to play. Honestly, what does any of this accomplish? Is the judge, seeing this protest, going to change his mind? Is the acquitted police officer going to come out publicly and say “OH YA GOT ME, IM GUILTY”.. NO. So your acting as children who don’t get their way.. you stomp your feet and hollar and yell and break your toys and throw a fit. Problem with spoiled children, even when you do get your way, you’ll just find something else to bitch about.
You article wreaks of biased opinions. “affluent surburbanites” How do you know they were from the suburbs? Butthurt that your shitty reporting hasn’t landed you a better job? The riot cops took care of business and prevented a riot. Why let things get out of hand when you can stop it before it ever happens? I love that cops took care of shit. I love that people got scared off from west park because they knew that people here weren’t going to put up with their shit. I hope more protesters who turn violent get their skulls cracked in. Keep up the good work CPD, you’re doing Cleveland good.
Seriously, you lost me when questioning a police report based on the “eye witness” account of a guy who works there but wasn’t there but heard from his co-workers that…. I worked in the restaurant industry long enough to know that the gossip chain in a restaurant is as reliable as getting your news from The Onion.
You mentioned the harry buffalo report from the police was contradicted by someone who wasnt even there. How is that credible. Barrio is a block away from Harry Buff. A police report is simply making note of witness accounts. So if you are going to say a police repory canmot be trusted ensure that one underatands that a witness account is not reputable, dont infer that the police are untrustworthy.
Just another case of the media using guerrilla tactics. Yes, this article absolutely REEKS of biased media opinions and poor reporting. Protesters trapped, are you kidding?? I’m pretty sure that if they were in all honesty trying to disperse, they would have been permitted to do so.. but they weren’t. The ‘trapped protesters’ were the ones that you see with their faces covered, often shouting ‘F*CK THE POLICE!’. That doesn’t accurately describe a protester who’s there trying to prove a point, that describes somebody who’s there looking for trouble.
Cleveland is not Baltimore, it’s not Ferguson.. the citizens of this city have more sense than to burn, loot, and destroy. It’s the people that come from OUTSIDE the city that stir the pot, and those are the ones to watch out for.
Good on you to the CPD and to the Sheriff’s Department for keeping our city safe and free from the things we’ve all seen happen in other cities.
Did you even read this before it was posted? Let’s overlook the extreme levels of bias presented throughout the article; this is written terribly! I felt like I was reading an expository essay of a 6th grader who just discovered the Microsoft Office thesaurus feature for the first time. You’re trying to support your weak arguments (or “facts”) with flamboyant language that really does not make any sense. I know some excellent editors that could look work over for you before you post something in the future…
I say good for the riot police! If anything, the numerous videos circulating should be shown to all police departments as to how to handle out of control protestors without causing panic. They weren’t physically agressive to them nor did they use extreme force. The person writing this article, I guess what you’re trying to say is that these protestors had to of been causing property damage and physical violence beforf they got arrested? Really? Why, so you have something exciting to report to the public? I’m glad they handled the situation before it got out of control, this is a beautiful city that shouldn’t be ruined by people just trying to prove a point. Wonderful job CPD and especially the Chief of Police, you are doing an exemplary job!!!
If we have a right to assemble, why were people arrested for failing to disperse?
WMA25-I think YOU need a job so you have something else to do other than bad mouth people…..
So….we can’t believe police reports, but we are supposed to believe you without question? Sorry, but the media these days is anything but reliable.
TL;DR
Seriously, you make it seem as if you were disappointed that CPD managed to keep a lid on the few violent outbreaks that did occur.
“…It’s gross. It’s very sad, sort of the bigoted, self-righteous, and often unconscious underbelly (or maybe just belly) of white America’s vastest ideological swath.) “
I can guarantee you that if the opposing crowd didn’t act this way, more days than not, there wouldnt be such a thick and ever growing underbelly. Such disgusting lawless behavior only makes it grow, my friend.
Sam Allard is one fine example of why so few people take Scene very seriously. It’s clearly obvious the owners of Scene don’t much care, as long as they can continue to milk every last nickel out of this dying print publication.
You do have the right to peacefully assemble… Once it is no longer peacefull then it is no longer an assembly it is a riot… You do NOT have the right to riot!!
Joyce Davidson Sandy:
I am fortunate enough to say I do have a job, and I don’t consider pointing out bias and overall grammatical errors published in a MAGAZINE by a JOURNALIST “bad mouthing.” People typically spend years of schooling to make a career out of this craft. I don’t think I’m setting the standard too high in expecting to read an article that presents facts clearly and formulated in a grammatically correct way. Call me crazy, but my college major was not in journalism, and yet, I am still able to go back and read things before posting them onto a public forum to ensure I’m sounding half intelligent…
Of course all of the commentators (from my knowledge) would be white. It never fails does it? Don’t you “people” EVER get tired of lying to yourselves? When will you white, poisonous excuses for pig shit EVER just give it UP? Stop trying to tear down the people who see the truth for what it is. I’ve learned something. That “white” people just don’t hate blacks you hate EVERYTHING. You even hate your own kind. If it doesn’t fit your internalized, personal (oftentimes disgustingly wrong) description of affluence then it’s useless or should be done away with. The world would be a MUCH better place without ALL OF YOU whether good or bad.
It’s so funny that most of the comments here are from the exact description used by the journalist in this article. The issues being protested have no affect on or to you besides making you feel uncomfortable and exposing your privileged bigotry while you sip on your $15 martinis and cosmos on the patios of downtown establishments. Funny how everyone is rejoicing in the police aggressive force towards protestors, yet no one has said anything about the comments and red drink hurled at the protestors from bar patrons, which by the way was the same way the protests in Baltimore started. Of course it’s always easy to side with something that you can relate to instead of having empathy and understanding for injustices being endured by others…..but again you all would rather drink your cocktails in peace instead of being reminded of your privilege as you drive back to your SURROUNDING Cleveland neighborhoods. I’m 100% positive that none of you posting actually live in the CITY OF CLEVELAND. It’s much easier to point fingers from North Olmstead, Rock River and Strongsville where you don’t have to see or deal with these issues or types of people. Smh
No Black racists here. Are you angry because there’s not a separate set of laws for black people and another for white? Or because you can’t enjoy $15.00 Martinis on a patio in Cleveland with affluent white people?
While a Gonzo journalism T-shirt should be presented to the reporter, the past few days simply shows that the East/West divide is alive and well — and a comment from 1973 by Hunter S. Thompson applies to the few in the region who take the tales from the street seriously….and view press conferences, with career politicians mumbling and stumbling through prepared texts, as bizarre ridiculousness to appease their puppeteers and – hopefully – sedate the tired masses who see through the lies: “If I’d written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.” — never drop that peyote button.
Injustices endured by others. Lolz. The others are causing their own injustices by their own actions. Get real!
Sam made a biased report? Well if you were in Cleveland and downtown I’d like to hear your version. I was and it sounds about right to me.
As a journalist, you shouldn’t be showing bias in your articles. However, this article reeks of your opinion on the situation. Referring to patrons on E. 4th as the “white Saturday cocktail crowd” seems to be a bit racist on your behalf. Maybe go back to school and learn how to put together a proper news article.
Thx for the truth la ve behome!!!
Anyone who incites violence and calls for burning a place down and shouts F*the police, hits an old man at a diner must and needs to be rounded up and arrested. Their message was no longer heard and point was no longer being made it was all about making a scene, revenge, and violence…prejudice. I was out of town. But, if this is about the child being shot who pointed a realistic toy weapon, we need to go after the company who created a realistic toy weapon, they should be sued.
Anyone who incites violence and calls for burning a place down and shouts F*the police, hits an old man at a diner must and needs to be rounded up and arrested. Their message was no longer heard and point was no longer being made it was all about making a scene, revenge, and violence…prejudice. I was out of town. But, if this is about the child being shot who pointed a realistic toy weapon, we need to go after the company who created a realistic toy weapon, they should be sued. That unarmed couple, ah, I don’t understand further inquest needs to be done, I do believe, and you’d be shocked and surprised how many white suburban American’s drinking Martini’s think this way-don’t beat up your defender’s just because you think this way. Rioting and hurting solves nothing.
If you think either side is entirely right, you’re wrong. We as human beings don’t have the luxury of being able to make descisions that don’t have rippling repercussions for better and worse. Even the very wise cannot see all ends, ultimately we just need to love our neighbors and seek peace, not further division.
I’m sure CNN is upset we don’t have an unqualified useless Mayor and wimpy Police commissioner like Baltimore, makes for terrible ratings.