CLEVELAND—Tensions gave way to relief in Cleveland as the Republican convention concluded quietly with two dozen arrests over four days thanks to a massive police presence and protesters’ own concerns for their safety.
City officials and police who braced for mass disruptions and violence during this summer of bloodshed struck a confident note as the convention wrapped up Thursday.
“We’re not nervous,” Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said at a Thursday evening briefing. “We’re trained and we’re here to make sure the public stays safe.”
The demonstrations that many feared would end in pitched battles between police and protesters turned at times into carnival-like scenes, with bongo players and with protesters dressed as nuns on stilts.
There were tense moments and some angry words as anarchists, anti-Muslim protesters and pro-capitalist groups filled the downtown Public Square, but most people seemed to get along.
State troopers from Indiana played ping pong with people in the square, three officers kicked around a soccer ball with children and the city’s police chief joined demonstrators in a prayer circle one afternoon.
