Tennis Balls Banned Near GOP Convention Center -- Out-Of-State Demonstrators Decide To Stay Home -- No Fun Without Tennis Balls? -- July 20, 2016

On July 18, 2016, I posted:

With regard to the Republican Convention in Cleveland and possible violence:

• the networks are hoping for fireworks
• it is noteworthy that the Ohio governor could not find a legal loophole banning "open carry" for a couple of days -- I can think of several ways he could have done that had he wanted
• "open carry" will result in a better outcome than had "open carry" been temporarily banned
• "open carry" patriots will put themselves between the uniformed law enforcers and the crowds, and they (the "open carry" patriots") will have their backs toward the uniformed law enforcers, and their guns on their front sides, holstered and/or unloaded
• the Cleveland command post knows that 99% of demonstrators are peaceful and sheepish; 1% are out-of-state anarchists; take out those 1% with immediate arrests and there is a better chance of minimizing Baltimore-Ferguson chaos

There are still two more days to go and anything can yet happen, but for the moment, out-of-town activists are upset that so few demonstrators showed up to create trouble in Cleveland. In the biggest demonstration to date, it sounds like:

• reporters out-numbered demonstrators
• cops rode bicycles around the demonstrators
• the cops did NOT arrest anyone
• demonstrators openly broke the law by bringing in tennis balls

Yes, tennis balls. Open carry is allowed in Cleveland, but tennis balls are banned within a 1.7 square mile event zone around the main venues.

So, why the small turnout? One out-of-town activist said she is "absolutely, positively convinced the reason for that is the fear factor."

The fear factor? Yup.

The out-of-town community organizer says she’s not sure why relatively few people showed up to protest in Cleveland, but she believes many were scared off by Ohio’s open carry laws, which allow people to carry firearms -- despite the ban on tennis balls and aluminum cans -- near the convention.

Or maybe Cleveland isn't that much fun in July.