How little impact are the protests at the Republican convention making? Well, let’s put it this way: Yesterday, the Tampa chief of police cancelled a scheduled afternoon press conference because there wasn’t enough to report.
The Examiner reported Monday that the crowds were sparse at the protests and they haven’t gotten any larger since then. Reportedly the largest crowd at any protest was 300 people at one at Ybor City, which is about three miles from the convention center.
Hurricane Isaac presumably kept many of the protesters at home. Most of the ones who did show up at the events appeared to be from outside the state, some as far away as New York.
Things have gotten so bad that “Romneyville,” the tent city created to facilitate the protests, has run out of money.
“We need about $3,000 to get going,” Rev. Bruce Wright, a co-founder of Romneyville told the Tampa Tribune. “What we have is a trickle.”
Meanwhile tensions have risen … between protesters. The Tribune reports that onlyinjury so far was not from tear gas of a police baton. It was a protester who had his ribs and nose broken by another protester in a dispute over cigarettes. Another protester named Tarah Colon reported that she had had $200 stolen and may not be able to afford to get her and her 11-month old son home.
There have been other problems too. Wright previously had to kick out many of the camp’s homeless residents because they were using alcohol and drugs. “We need to maintain decorum,” he said.
