A federal judge ruled that restricting protests in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention was unconstitutional. | Getty Federal judge strikes down Cleveland RNC protest zone restrictions

A federal judge on Thursday struck down rules set for protesters at next month’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Ohio’s branch of the American Civil Liberties Union brought the suit last week against the city of Cleveland, arguing that restrictions on protesters within the “event zone” around Quicken Loans Arena are unconstitutional. Those restrictions would ban certain items, including large backpacks, tape and string, and limit where within the 3.5 square mile zone demonstrators can speak and hold a parade.


According to a Cleveland.com report, U.S. District Judge James Gwin also took issue with the "unduly large" size of the event zone itself, as well as with the times at which parades could be held and the limitations placed on the use of city parks by protesters.

The city indicated that it will appeal the decision, but with just 25 days until the convention, ACLU of Ohio executive director Christine Link said her group would negotiate a settlement with Cleveland at the request of Judge Gwin. That settlement is likely to redraw entirely the scope of the event zone.

The city had contended in a court filing that its restrictions are similar to those in other cities where conventions have been held.

In an article on Breitbart published Wednesday, Donald Trump ally Roger Stone wrote that Cleveland’s restrictions on protesters would negatively impact a pro-Trump rally planned for outside the arena. Anti-Trump demonstrators would be penned into the same area, Stone and his co-author wrote, “purposefully creating a powder keg” in order to generate negative media attention for the presumptive nominee.