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Cleveland, Ohio – The first day of the Republican National Convention was tense, though not nearly as tense as predicted. Protesters took to the streets of Cleveland to march against the impending nomination of Donald J. Trump as the Republican standard bearer. They were met by Trump supporters and an enormous religious contingent. Police officers swarmed on bikes that were often utilized as barriers, and for the most part maintained the peace.

Protesters moved along Carnegie Avenue before meeting a blockade that was erected by the city. Protesters scaled the barriers without second thought and continued to push towards the Quicken Loans Arena, where the Republican delegates listened to speeches given by their party’s leaders. Rather than reacting aggressively or violently, local and national police forces managed to herd the march back onto the designated route, before it reached its crescendo at the Memorial park on Rockwell and West Mall Drive.

At Memorial park, Anti-Trump protestors came face to face with white nationalist groups. Speakers dueled for the crowd’s attention. At one point, socialist leaders took the megaphone across the plaza from a man wearing a shirt that read “Allah is Satan.” The crowd gravitated towards the white nationalists, shouting chants back and forth. “Black Lives Matter!” yelled the protestors.  “All lives matter,” responded the other crowd.  Through a megaphone the “Allah is Satan” man could be heard espousing almost comically homophobic rhetoric. “Effeminate males, butch bull dykes, I have gadar,” he began. “You will have to wear diapers for the rest of your life due to a prolapsed rectum. That’s called gay anal syndrome.”

Though the apparel of many might suggest otherwise, the first day of the Republican National convention was largely peaceful. Police were present in such overbearing numbers that any confrontation was immediately deescalated. It was a well orchestrated event in which everyone was able to exercise their free speech rights, but were unable to impinge upon anyone else’s right to do the same. The events yesterday starkly contrast the recent protests over the murder of unarmed black civilians all across the country which have created images of brutal police suppression of First Amendment rights.

The most tense part of the first day of the convention was likely on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena, where anti-Trump delegates attempted a political coup in efforts to change convention rules and prevent Donald Trump from winning the nomination. They were eventually shut down by a high tech “applause-o-meter” which judged that the Trump supporters’ clapping was louder than the insurgents’ applause.

The lack of violence in the streets, coupled with the political unrest in the arena seems to be symptomatic of the problems that we are facing in this election.

The theme of the first day of the convention was “Make America Safe Again.” Trump’s campaign planners scheduled an array of speakers who are “unsafe” in this modern day America. A long and tragic list of women who had lost children to “illegal aliens” lambasted our lax border security. Two men who had narrowly escaped Benghazi with their lives offered a damning testimony on Hillary Clinton’s ability to project security. The final prong in this security offensive was the strategy in dealing with the protests.

The police were immaculate.  They were strong and forceful when necessary, and kind and gracious when allowed. They nodded to protesters as they walked by and solicited the services of the local business establishments.

At one point I sneezed and heard a “bless you.” When I looked over, an officer holding a riot shield was giving me a big grin.  

Weeks of pre-convention coverage indicated that this would be a bloody affair. Many predicted that Ohio’s open carry laws would be the icing on the Republican cake that was sure to explode in a fiery ball of leftist thuggery and right wing hate-speak. But none of that happened yesterday. The dominant images leaving the protests will be ones of unity, and of course men wearing shirts that read “Allah is Satan.” I have no idea what that means. Maybe our country isn’t nearly as distraught as we feel, maybe everything will change on Tuesday. All that I can say with certainty is that I rode the bus to Cleveland feeling afraid, but that time on the bus was the only time during the day that I felt fear.