Hundreds protest in Cleveland ahead of Republican National Convention

Hundreds of US protesters have marched in Cleveland, Ohio ahead of the Republican National Convention, which will officially nominate a Republican candidate for the upcoming US presidential election.

About 200 demonstrators marched in downtown Cleveland on Sunday, carrying placards and chanting slogans against police brutality and racial profiling.

The protesters were shouting, “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” as they neared the site of the Republican convention, which begins on Monday and will wrap up on Thursday.

The demonstrators also denounced presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump for his discriminatory views about immigration and Muslims.

Some protesters said police used excessive force against them, and there were reports of demonstrators being arrested. “They pushed us against the wall and said, ‘We are going to search your bags,’” said Cloud Kallisti, 43, of Akron, Ohio.

About 100 protesters gathered at a park in eastern Cleveland and marched slowly toward the site of the convention. The demonstrators carried signs reading: “Shut Down Trump,” “Jail Racist Cops,” “Black Lives Matter” and “Jews Against Trump: #WeveSeenThisBefore.”

The vast majority of Americans say they feel afraid if either Trump or Hillary Clinton is elected to the White House, a new poll shows.

The coalition of protesters was broad, including some from Black Lives Matter movement, a pro-Palestine group and Code Pink, a peace and social justice movement working to end US-funded wars and occupations.

Despite the relative calm on Sunday, the police are expecting the protests to intensify this week when the Republican National Convention begins.

Cleveland is bringing in about 2,500 police officers from as far away as California, Texas and Florida to boost its normal force of approximately 500.

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