Flag Burning

Gregory Lee "Joey" Johnson was taken into custody shortly after the 4 p.m. demonstration on East 4th Street and Prospect Avenue outside the security entrance to the Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the Republican National Convention.

(Adam Ferrise/cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of the protesters arrested Wednesday at a staged flag burning outside the Republican National Convention in downtown Cleveland caught himself and two other demonstrators on fire, leading to a violent altercation with police.

Police Chief Calvin Williams said during an evening news conference that 18 people were arrested near the corner of East 4th Street and Prospect Avenue - two on felony charges, including assaulting a police officer. The others face misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse.

The incident began when protesters blocked RNC delegates from accessing Quicken Loans Arena late Wednesday afternoon, and police issued an order to disperse, Williams said.

The demonstrators refused to leave the area, and one began to set fire to an American flag, the chief said. When the protester's pants caught fire, an officer stepped in to extinguish the flames. The protester tried to keep the burning flag away from the officer, and in doing so, lit two other demonstrators on fire, as well.

A Cleveland police supervisor and an Ohio State trooper were pushed and punched during the altercation and suffered minor injuries, Williams said. No one required medical treatment, however, he said.

A witness to the protest said Gregory Lee "Joey" Johnson lit the flag on fire is now demanding that he be released from custody. Johnson is famous for a legal battle that set a U.S. Supreme Court precedent in 1989 that says burning an American flag is protected speech.

Amina Gonzales of the Revolutionary Communist Party said several other members of her group were arrested for failing to disperse after Cleveland police ordered the crowd to leave or face arrests.

"This is protected speech and they bum-rushed us," she said. "That caused a lot of the pro-Trump supporters to jump in too."

A red lighter was marked as evidence by crime scene investigators and sat about five feet from the burnt remnants of the flag.

Revolutionary Communist Party signs at the scene were also marked as evidence. The group says they support neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton and that they hope to completely rebuild society.

Gonzales said Cleveland police rushed to the area and used pepper spray on the crowd. But police said Wednesday night that what people perceived as a cloud of pepper spray was actually the fumes of a fire extinguisher.

Gonzales said officers also pushed and shoved some of the more "antagonistic" members of their group. She said she wasn't sure if anyone was injured. Police said medics were at the scene, but no one requested medical attention.

Revolutionary Communist Party spokesman Carl Dix said Johnson is not part of their group but had coordinated with him in order to provide support.

Dix said his group tried to march on Ontario Street near the Justice Center and were blocked by police officers.

"What happened today is Joey Johnson burned an American Flag," Dix said. "As the flag began to go up in flames, they vamped on Joey and they vamped on the people he was with."

Cleveland.com reporter Leila Atassi contributed to this report.