CLEVELAND – The opposite ends of American politics ran into each other in a public square and the results were crude and noisy.
On one side, Islam-bashing, homophobia-spewing men like the one in a shirt stamped, “Allah Is Satan.”
He screamed epithets through a megaphone about all these different groups as well as Black Lives Matter, leftists, and police killers whom he said deserved to be bombed and have their bloody body parts splash surrounding buildings.
On the other side were disparate groups of Donald Trump opponents. Immigrant advocates, anti-capitalists, Black Lives Matter, and various other progressives who came to protest Monday on Day One of the Republican convention.
Their protest was crashed by Trump supporters who hurled so many insults against identifiable groups that even the proudly politically incorrect Republican nominee would likely call security if they wound up anywhere near his convention podium.
Dressed in military olive with a crucifix and the sign, “American Infidel,” stamped on his back, Mark Steven explained why he was there: “Just havin’ a little clash with the anarchists, the communists, the America-haters…
“They hate law. They hate cops. We’re here to balance it out a little bit. We (tell them), ‘You need to obey the law. When a cop tells you to stop, you stop. You get down on the ground, you put your hands behind your back, and do as the officer says — or you might get shot.'”
He said he’s voting for Trump over Hillary Clinton — whom he called a witch.
Standing next to him on the stage was a man holding a sign threatening the fires of hell for fornicators, drunkards, masturbators, Catholics and a couple dozen other categories of the human species. Another wandered around shouting, “All Lives Matter! Blue Lives Matter!” through a left-leaning crowd holding signs like, “Disarm the cops,” and, “Trump is a capitalist pig.”
Federal officials have expressed fear of unrest at this week’s convention — which is attracting a combustible mix of protesters at a tension-packed time of terrorist plots and police killings.
These people don’t tend to mix often.
Political science research has extensively chronicled a widening political canyon in this country, with left and right increasingly isolated from each other and clustered into separate, ideologically uniform regions, industries, families, educational choices, even hobbies.
One woman holding a “Stop Trump” sign said the nominee-in-waiting didn’t create this country’s divisions over things like race.
But she said he pours gasoline on them.
“He’s bringing those underlying issues and bubbling them up, bringing out the worst in people,” said Sarah Schmidt, a Bernie Sanders supporter who said she’ll vote for Hillary Clinton in November because she can’t stand the thought of President Trump.
Inside the convention hall down the street, a loud faction of Republicans felt the same way. They booed as the party shut down an effort to force a vote on Trump’s nomination, and proceedings were briefly paused by the protest.
Outside on the street, a group of LGBT protesters taunted the right-wingers. They chanted: “We’re queer, we’re here.” One man from the stage responded: “You’re queer, you’re all going to hell.”
Police used bicycles to keep the groups a few metres apart.
The right-wingers thanked police officers: “We support you,” one said, as the group rolled up its posters and left. A state police officer breathed a relieved sigh as the group moved on.
One group of cops on bikes followed them through downtown Cleveland.
Eventually, they wound up in a different public square.
A former military man in a “Hillary For Prison” T-shirt waved a U.S. flag. He paused as a Muslim woman in a hijab walked by with her son, handing out pens with roses they’d made inscribed with the message, “Salam Means Peace.”
Shawn Witte took a moment to talk to them: “You’re putting out message that Muslims aren’t bad. I appreciate it… It takes cojones to do that. Especially here.”
As they chatted, terrorism came up. Witte said he wanted to hear Muslims denounce it more loudly. Samir and Rose Hamid insisted it happens all the time — even if it doesn’t make the news.
A former Marine, Witte said he’s had experiences that don’t leave him favourably disposed to Muslims. But he said he’d always wanted to see the inside of a mosque, and find out what things are really like in there.
The mother and son took his number. They promised to put him in touch with friends in his home state of California.
As they parted ways, they reached an agreement on the power of listening. The younger Hamid said normal, healthy political disagreements need not automatically turn into shouting matches.
Witte insisted he will check out the mosque.
“Maybe I won’t agree with (what I hear). Maybe after the end I’ll think it’s all BS and nonsense,” he said.
“But the fact is, I owe it to my country to try to understand this.”
