Cleveland, kept in touch with the world by Obamaphone,
...was ruled by a Democrat machine from 1942 through 1971. After the river caught fire during the administration of Carl Stokes they tried a Republican, then went back to being Democrats when the party hacked up Dennis Kucinich ...
Police Chief Calvin Williams, who was at the scene, said the person who started burning the flag caught himself and others around him on fire and officers moved in to put out the flames.
"That's when they got defensive," Williams said, "and that's when they assaulted an officer."
One officer was punched and pushed, according to Williams, and "the whole area got amped up when this happened."
Video from the scene showed the flag, followed by a scuffle and a visual of someone spraying a substance into the middle of the crowd. Police said no pepper spray was used but that an officer did use a fire extinguisher.
A group that provides legal services for protesters criticized the police for what it called "aggressive shows of force."
"The Ohio NLG is highly concerned about these arrests and the escalation of police tactics against peaceful demonstrators," said Jocelyn Resnick of the Ohio Lawyers Guild.
The protest was announced in advance by Joey Johnson, a revolutionary communist known for flag-burnings. Hours before the protest, there was a call on Twitter for counter-protesters to turn out, too.
Johnson was one of the 17 nabbed
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
, but Williams said none of the charges were related to burning the flag, which is legal. Johnson and other protesters chanted "America was never great" as they were taken into custody. |