A Lens on the GOP Convention: Dispatches From Day 1

In the calm before the convention, Secret Service agents scan quiet streets from the rooftop of the convention center. (Michael Nigro)

The iconic Hard Rock Cafe neon logo behind omnipresent steel fencing. (Michael Nigro)

Bikers For Trump, a coterie of roughly 1,000 people attending the convention, are assembling in small contingents across the city “to back the police up whenever needed.” (Michael Nigro)

Guitarist and activist Tom Morello took the stage with his new band, Prophets of Rage, during the “End Poverty NOW!” rally. His band mates, consisting of Public Enemy’s Chuck D and B Real of Cypress Hill, revved up the crowd of nearly 2,000 to march 30 blocks toward the convention area before they were stopped by police on foot, bikes and horses. “We’re gonna let those motherfuckers at the RNC know that we’ve had enough of their bullshit!” said Morello. (Michael Nigro)

A Trump supporter cheers after the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”(Michael Nigro)

A protester at the “End Poverty NOW!” rally. (Michael Nigro)

The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference across the street from the convention, calling out Trump’s Islamophobia. Their swag is a pack of sugar-free gum that cheekily claims to offer “Relief for Chronic Islamophobia.” (Michael Nigro)

Cleveland police are ready for protesters, activists and off-road mountain biking. (Michael Nigro)

Hillary Clinton is not Ms. Popular with many of the GOP conventiongoers.(Michael Nigro)

Looking for progressive intellectualism? The 2016 GOP convention is not the place to find it. (Michael Nigro)

Cleveland police officers begin their first shift of the convention in Public Square. (Michael Nigro)

Remember to pack your sense of humor. The distance between Charleston, S.C., and Cleveland is 725 miles, or a 10-hour, 54-minute drive. (Michael Nigro)

American performance artist and activist Vermin Love Supreme. He is making another presidential run. (Michael Nigro)

Nearly 2,000 people took part in the “March to End Poverty NOW!” (Michael Nigro)