Tensions escalate at Cleveland protests

CLEVELAND — Dozens of demonstrators were surrounded by police Tuesday afternoon during the largest protest yet at the Republican National Convention.

The chaotic scene involved several relatively small but vocal protest groups in a square just blocks from the convention site.

{mosads}About 300 police officers cordoned off the various protest groups to de-escalate the situation, with many officers interlocking their bicycles to form temporary boundaries.

One officer said police may need to “gear all the way up.” A handful of officers appeared with riot gear, though most were helmeted bicycle officers with handguns or batons.

About a dozen protesters with a megaphone and signs reading “stop being a sinner” and “Allah is Satan” sparked the strongest backlash. A separate, smaller group protested police shootings of black people.

Police from around the country interlocked, with one group of officers forming a secondary line of defense.

Cops far outnumbered protesters in the main area and reached the middle of the square before expanding their perimeter to crowd out those inside. After about an hour, police allowed people back into the public square. 

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said just one scuffle between a pair of men broke out at the gathering.

A small group protesting the police killings of black men broke off from the main group in Public Square and marched several blocks through the streets.  

Several people in the area around the square were spotted taking advantage of Ohio’s open-carry laws, with one man wearing a black pistol on his hip.

The protest came after a pair of relatively peaceful events outside Quicken Loans Arena Monday, including a march against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and some protesting outside the convention gate.

— Updated at 6 p.m. Peter Sullivan contributed.