A serious situation broke out on Monday following the start of the Republican National Convention. According to The Hill, seven people were arrested and two individuals were hospitalized during protests that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday night. Protesters reportedly gathered in Marshall Park earlier in the day for an event titled “Resist RNC 2020,” and their demonstration continued throughout the day.
Protesters initially gathered in the afternoon for their protest. The gathering later turned into a group of more than 100 people as they began marching at around 9 p.m. local time. Their march was peaceful until police arrived on the scene and attempted to disperse the crowds that had gathered around a burning object. The Charlotte Observer reported that the object appeared to have been an American flag. Officers used pepper spray against the protesters and then made several arrests. A video that was taken at the scene showcased officers using bikes to knock down the protesters. One woman could even be seen getting her legs run over by an officer’s bike. These demonstrations have been taking place against the Republican National Convention since Friday.
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This demonstration took place on the same day that delegates officially nominated the incumbent President Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee for the presidency. While many of the events for the RNC are taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, delegates still gathered in Charlotte to formally nominate Trump. The president even made an appearance at the convention on Monday shortly after he reached the requisite amount of delegates to earn the Republican nomination. He delivered a speech during his surprise appearance in which he took aim at both Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for the presidency, and mail-in ballots.
“This is the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said. “This is the biggest.” It will be a couple of days before he formally accepts the nomination, as he will do so on Thursday at the White House. In the meantime, the president is expected to be visible throughout the RNC. There has been a bit of controversy surrounding Trump’s decision to deliver remarks from the White House. On Monday, CBS This Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil asked the president’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows whether the speech is “mixing the official taxpayer business of this country with the reelection business of the Republican Party.” Meadows denied this and said, “This is about a message on what the president will do and what he can do and has done for the American people. It’s about promises that were kept, the people that have been affected and ultimately the promises that will be acted upon in the next four years. So I don’t see a mixture of it.”
