What To Expect When You're Protesting: An Activist Guide To The RNC & DNC

Secret Service map of closed and semi-closed areas around the RNC
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By now it's a familiar ritual: tens of thousands of party operatives and reporters gather for several nights of confetti and draft beer in a mid-sized American city, while outside a smattering of true believer puppeteers, union members, and unruly anarchists roam around a deserted downtown, penned in by cops, the National Guard, and miles of fences. With the prominent exception of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York—where the arrests of 1,800 reporters, protesters, and bystanders ultimately cost city taxpayers more than $19 million in lawsuit payouts—the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions have fallen into a predictable script in the last decade and a half.