Protesters preparing for ‘No Kings' rallies throughout NE Ohio Saturday

Yahoo

17 hours ago

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Organizers came together Friday afternoon at the Free Stamp in downtown Cleveland for last-minute preparations for a major protest set for Saturday.
Cleveland is one of hundreds of cities where a 'No Kings' rally is planned, protesting President Donald Trump and a military parade scheduled for Saturday in Washington, D.C.
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'As of this morning, we have over 2,000 sign-ups but we are expecting triple that amount tomorrow,' said organizer Ellen Frank.
According to Cleveland police, the protest just so happens to overlap with the city's Juneteenth celebrations on Mall C, as well as several other events downtown.
'We have an emergency operations plan in place. We have officers placed at strategic places,' said Sgt. Freddy Diaz, with Cleveland police.
However, organizers said the protests plan to be peaceful, nonviolent gatherings, and the rally will happen regardless of the weather.
'We have peacekeepers that are trained on how to de-escalate situations — 26 of them in yellow vests,' said Frank.
Cleveland is not alone in Northeast Ohio. Organizers are also listing demonstrations in Akron, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Dover, Wooster, Ashland and Alliance.
In Akron the afternoon demonstration is planned outside of the John F. Seiberling federal building.
A spokesperson for the city on Friday released a statement saying:
'We've been in contact with the organizers of the event here in Akron and we are expecting a good turnout of peaceful protestors. As always, Akron Police Department will be prepared if they are needed for any reason but that is not the expectation.'
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Police say they have no reason to expect trouble.
'Public safety is our top priority and if we are able to allow people to protest and public safety remains intact then we are all for it,' said Lt. Michael Murphy Jr. of the Akron Police Department.
'When we talk about giving them space to do that that means the police department would like to stay as hands off as possible. We will respond if needed and if asked to do so If there's a problem we will address that but again we don't anticipate there being any issues and any problems' he added.
There are, however, activities that police here say they will not tolerate.
'We will not tolerate any threats, any types of violence, vandalism, anything of that nature, that's not going to be tolerated and will be addressed appropriately,' said Murphy.
In response to unrest during ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles President Trump nationalized the California National Guard saying their mission, initially, was to protect federal buildings.
Although Saturday's planned protest in Akron is outside of a federal building Governor Mike DeWine has, so far, indicated he will not be activating the Ohio National Guard on Saturday.
In Canton, demonstrators are expected to gather at the arts center where they will merge with a planned Stark Pride March that will travel to Centennial Park.
Organizers of the 'No-Kings' event say they have urged anyone interested in attending that they expect the event to be peaceful.
'Every message we put out there we are peaceful, we are non-violent, we are not here to antagonize or argue with people. We are just expressing ourselves as Americans and what's important to us and what our values are,' said Lorraine Wilburn of Action Together Stark.
Where there has been trouble during demonstrations across the country, including Los Angeles, the problems typically come from a small percentage of those who seem to be there to intentionally create chaos.
Wilburn said she does not expect that, bit knows it could happen.
'There's not much we can do to control those individual actors, except to step away from them and that's one of the ways we plan to handle it,' Wilburn said. 'Although we don't anticipate any issues whatsoever.'
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