Heat rose as Berners and Trumpers protested outside the DNC. Here's what they had to say.

Robin Saxifrage

July 27th 2016

#41 of 84 articles from the Special Report: U.S. Presidential Election 2016

A group of police consider their next move after being forced to retreat behind a barricade by angry protestors

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The protests outside the Democratic National Convention 2016 in Philadelphia this week started off slowly and heated up along with the weather in the afternoon. The first activist that fellow reporter Eli Krag and I encountered was Jane, who was a wholehearted Donald Trump supporter.

Our first stop upon reaching the protest ground at FDR park was to check in on Tom, who I had spoken with yesterday, to see what his thoughts were on Bernie Sanders' nomination of Hillary Clinton. He was disappointed. When asked to what extent his fears of a Clinton presidency were alleviated by the newly adopted Democratic platform, which was said to be the most progressive in history, he made it clear that to earn his support Clinton would have to adopt Sanders' agenda in its entirety.

As with most DNC protestors I spoke with, the problem with Clinton seemed to be more the personality than the program. As people trickled onto the scene, protests began in earnest. The vast majority of participants remained pro-Sanders, and hopeful, given the possibility for a delegate flip (in which the majority of the 716 super-delegates, most of whom were pledged to Clinton, would at the last minute cast their vote for Sanders).

Elliot believed voting machines had been hacked or misused in the primary, citing a lack of correlation between exit polls and final results

As the heat of the protest rose, so did the heat of the air.

A policeman comes to the aid of a protestor who had collapsed from heat stroke, but soon triumphantly arose

Police on both sides of the barrier queue as the fire department hands out snow-cones to beat the heat

Once again, the action held a wide variety of characters.

Selling candy in front of a police barricade, this woman advertised with the slogan "black candy matters"

Joe was prepared to switch from Sanders' camp to Trump's in the event of a Clinton nomination. When asked about his views, he said: "Trump is a f**king fascist and a demagogue, but at the same time he will uphold the constitutional rights and rule of law that protects all people."

As delegates continued to arrive for the convention, the police did their best to unload them as far away from protestors as possible, while protestors did their best to find the unloading points.

Dave and Robin, who came from Trinidad to join the protests, take a short brake from their chant of "hell no D-N-C, we won't vote for Hil-lar-y" to pose for a photo

Masha and Dominic brought along their youngster, Denali

A young woman joins in the cheer of "this is what democracy looks like"

The day started in earnest with the roll-call being televised on on the grandstand set up in the park. State by state, the final delegate counts were listed off. There were cheers for each of Sanders delegate counts and boos for Clinton's, but as the states wore on it became clear that no delegate flip had occurred, and Hillary Clinton was going to be the next Democratic nominee for president.

A woman watches the roll-call on a telecaster in FDR park

With this realization, many people began walking dejectedly towards the subway station across Broad Street from FDR park (The one where, as reported in my previous article, protestors clashed with police on Monday).

Two women console each-other after Hillary Clinton's nomination for Democratic candidate

When most of the crowd had arrived, the threat of a confrontation with police became apparent.

Protestors link arms and hoist a coffin painted with the livery of the DNC while chanting "let us through" at police holding the line with bicycles

Two police hold the gate against protestors while others take refuge behind it

A woman calls for a peaceful protest as the action threatens to spiral out of control

This stalemate held for the better part of an hour

Two people climb the barricade to be arrested

Protestors continue the fight as evening wears on

Police stand by as the protest turns to a march, reportedly headed for city hall

After roughly a kilometer, the Sanders' supporters march ran head-on into a Black Lives Matter march. As the two combined police began herding the chaos back towards FDR park.

Motorbike police force the crowd to reverse direction

An SUV decorated with the Pan-African (aka. Black Liberation) flag as the march continues

A young man smiles for the camera in front of a sign that reads "stop killing black people"

Absolute chaos as police successfully prevent protestors from blocking the highway with their vehicles, tear gas, and the help of some of the more moderated demonstrators

As the protest(s) headed back towards FDR park, chants of "Black Lives Matter" contested the airspace with the Sanders supporters newfound slogan "Jill not Hill" (Jill Stein is the presumed Green Party candidate this election, who happened to have just arrived at the demonstration, looking to gain support from newly disenfranchised Sanders supporters.

Police keep a watchful eye on a turbulent group from beside their patrol car

Jill Stein speaks with the press while walking with the crowd towards FDR park

After a speech by Jill Stein at the entrance of FDR park the crowd once again began walking down Broad Street towards city hall. This time, however, they came to a stop in front of the entrance to the convention parking area, where state police in full riot gear faced them off.