Trevor Hughes, Tolly Taylor and Kevin Johnson

USA TODAY

A flag-burning protest turned chaotic outside Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday afternoon as a total of 17 people were arrested and two officers suffered minor injuries.

Police Chief Calvin Williams said a protester attempted to set the flag afire — a legal activity as long as it is not used to incite a crowd — and the flames jumped to the protester’s pant legs and then spread to others. As officers attempted to extinguish the flames, the scrum became more aggressive, and two officers were assaulted, Williams said.

Two of the suspects are charged with felony assault on a police officer. The others are being charged with misdemeanors, ranging from failing to disperse to inciting violence.

Despite Wednesday’s incident, Williams said the day's events were “relatively quiet’’ near the arena where the Republican National Convention is taking place this week

“With 22 arrests over the last three days, I think so far so good,’’ Williams said. “We need to make sure that we finish this day and the last day on a positive note.”

A spokesperson for Revcom, the group responsible for the flag-burning protest, said group member Gregory "Joey" Johnson attempted to burn a flag and was arrested. A second Revcom protester, who could not be identified, tried to burn the flag again, bending down and holding a lighter until the flag started to catch fire. A man then pushed through the crowd, reached his arm over and dumped a bottle full of water on the flag.

Police whistles erupted as mounted officers blocked off the area. The woman was then arrested as the police formed a perimeter around her, forcing other Revcom protesters back.

Large crowds of journalists and delegates swarmed as protesters chanted anti-police slogans near East 4th and Prospect. Police pushed into the center of the crowd and began moving the core protesters, who continued screaming and chanting while they were handcuffed, searched and detained.

Officers also used their bicycles and a group of horse-mounted troopers to clear the street and pushed the crowd away from the main entrance of the arena.

The scene was further compounded by delegates and other Republicans who began singing "America the Beautiful" and waving American flags as the howling protesters were detained.

Johnson is famous for burning the American flag in 1984. He took part in a previous demonstration with Revcom on Monday in Cleveland. At that demonstration, he revealed the group planned to burn the American flag later in the week.

On Aug. 22, 1984, Johnson and protesters marched through Dallas, where the Republican National Convention was taking place. They walked up to the Mercantile Bank building, and Johnson pulled down the American flag flying in front and burned it. He was then arrested, charged and convicted of violating the Texas flag desecration law.

Johnson argued the burning fell under his First Amendment right to free speech and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1989, he won in a 5-4 ruling.



When asked Tuesday about Revcom's plan to burn the flag, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry expressed disappointment.



“Sometimes, people have some pretty extraordinary ways in which they express their First Amendment right," he said. "That’s not one that I think is particularly thoughtful...Burning something down, whether it’s a flag, whether it’s a home, whether it’s a country, is a poor way to express yourself.”