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A member of Code Pink demonstrates during former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson's speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016. Win McNamee/Getty Images
A member of Code Pink demonstrates during former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson's speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

California-Based Code Pink Brings Anti-Trump Demonstrations to Cleveland

California-Based Code Pink Brings Anti-Trump Demonstrations to Cleveland

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Protests at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland have not been as big as expected so far, but that may change Thursday as Donald Trump prepares to accept the GOP’s presidential nomination.

The California-based anti-war group Code Pink has made its presence known in a big way at the GOP convention.

Members successfully got inside the convention hall and disrupted speakers several times this week. Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin says the group is known for using guerrilla theater to highlight issues. One of their protests at the GOP convention involved hundreds of tennis balls after they discovered the balls were banned around the convention site, but guns were allowed.

"We came with 500 tennis balls and we played with the balls until the police came and confronted us and said that this was material that wasn’t allowed, and threatened to arrest us," says Benjamin. "They confiscated all the tennis balls."

Code Pink isn’t the only California contingent that made the trip. The California Highway Patrol sent 300 officers to help keep the peace in Cleveland. Sgt. Kevin Luntey says it’s been pretty much constant work since they arrived.

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“Everybody here is part of a special response team, and this is what we trained for: crowd control, civil disobedience," says Luntey.

A “Stand Together Against Trump” march and protest is scheduled for later today outside the convention.

Code Pink protesters outside the Republican National Convention.
Code Pink protesters outside the Republican National Convention. (Katie Orr/KQED)

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