Republican convention kicks off with rallies duelling over Trump

Shortly after midnight in Minneapolis, Khadija Hassan boardeda rented bus with 50 others and drove 12 hours to Cleveland just to be part of Monday'santi-Donald Trump protest.

"As a first-time voter I didn't want to just roll up to November and just check a box. I wanted to be more involved inthe campaign," said Hassan, who wasonly staying a few hours in Clevelandbefore heading back home on the bus.

Meanwhile, blocks over at a pro-Trump rally, software engineerGlenn Hessler, 52, ofErie, Pa.,said he too felt the need tocome to Cleveland, but for exactly the opposite reason to show his supportin person for the Republicans' presumptive presidential nominee.

'A very important event'

"I took the day off because I think this is a very important event," he said.'"You have to be careful who you tell [at work].So I'vetold peoplewho are kind of sympathetic."

Such is the passion of these two attendees,neither social activists, just regular people with opposing views drawn to be here on theday of duelling rallies, the day that theRepublican National Convention officially kicked off its four-day event.

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There has been concern that the pro-Trump and anti-Trump forces might clash, as they have at previous rallies.To be sure, law enforcement officialskepta watchfuleyeand maintained a prominent presence.But both events were incident-free, with no reports of any kind of violence or mischief.

A mostly reserved crowd attended the Citizens for Trump rally, held at the city's west-end Settlers Landing Park.Itwas not a rallying sitefor rank-and-file Republican delegates, but an opportunity for some Trump stalwarts to see the list of invited speakers.

By farthe most popular was conspiracy theorist and radio hostAlex Jones, founder of the websiteInfoWarsand a Trump supporter. Manythere were wearing Hillary for Prison2016 T-shirts,soldby Jones' website, and were just asmotivatedto see Jonesas they were to show supportforTrump.

Media flocks to gun carriers

Those who decided to take advantage of Ohio'sopen-carrygun lawand strap a firearm to their side, likely drew the most attention. However, anyoneexpecting to seean armed militiawould be disappointed, as only a handfulcame with their weapon.

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"We're not trying to stir up anything," said Sam Kurek, 25, from Pennsylvania, who had a Glock31 strapped to his side."I'm carrying to actually prevent violence. It's a deterrent effect," he said.

"We're not here to start a war."

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Many atthe rally sharedsimilar concerns, similar messages. They didn't speak aboutissues most identified with Republicans or conservatives, such as low taxes, abortion and a strong foreign policy. Instead, these attendees spoke in stark terms about their fears ofglobalization, the elite or powerbrokerswhothey believe run the country, and they said theywere attractedto Trump's talk of nationalism.

"My main issue is that he's a nationalist," Hessler said.

"I think everybodyelseon both sides are globalists and I think they basically sold out the American worker to thesemultinationalcorporations. I think Trump's the only guy who wants to bring jobs back to America."

'Nationalism vs. globalism'

It was a nearly identical messagefrom Cleveland resident Steve Bruno, who said his main concern is"nationalism versus globalism" and that Trump is a nationalist who's not part of the "secret club."

At the anti-Trump protest that gathered at the city's Fountain of Eternal Life, theconcerns werebroader, focusing on issues surrounding social justice. But they also zeroed in onTrump.

"His bigotry, this anti-immigration sentiments," said Hassan. I'm an immigrant myself. I'm a Muslim myself and so all my inherent identifications he's basically against."

The anti-Trump protest was certainly a more lively affair and better attendedthan the pro-Trump gathering, and many there had a particular ideological bent.

The communist Workers World Party, supporters of Black Lives Matter movement, Student Socialist Society andStudents For a Democratic Society werewell represented. And most were unitedin denouncing Trump as an anti-immigrant bigot and misogynist.

'Whipping up a fascist movement'

But not all belonged to a particular group.

"First and foremost, I'm in complete opposition to the hatred that DonaldTrump has stirred up in the country," said Mike Shane, a factory workerwho travelled to Cleveland from Detroit just to voice his opposition to Trump."He is whipping up a fascist movement. And the only way for us to stop it is to all get together and fight back."

The rally then turned into a march, and wound its way down the streets of downtown Cleveland, as marchers repeated a number of chants: "Dump Trump,""Shut it Down" and "Donald Trump go away. Racist, sexist anti-gay."

It was a relatively long march, about 90 minutes, and it ended peacefullywhere it began, back at the fountain.