Hundreds of protesters demonstrated at the presidential debate near the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Tuesday, shortly before President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden were set to hold their first faceoff there.
The coalition of left-wing groups aimed its ire at the president, chanting slogans like "Dump Trump" and holding "Black Lives Matter" signs. The demonstrators also chanted the name of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy who was killed by police in Cleveland in 2014.
There were no reports of any violence.
Protesters were kept blocks away from the debate site by state police and the National Guard, which had established an "event zone" around the area.
The zone was expanded by the City Board of Control on Monday, Cleveland Scene reported.
"Apparently the 300 National Guardsmen, the barricades, fences, road closures, armored vehicles, guard towers and cattle pens were not enough intimidation," one of the organizers, Josiah Quarles, told the newspaper.
