hundreds of people have been arrested or cited at campaign events and party conventions this year, underscoring a divisive election cycle with two unpopular main-party nominees. arrests at rallies for republican presidential nominee donald trump have been a focal point of news coverage, with videos showing both protesters and supporters being involved in altercations. democratic nominee hillary clinton <u+2019>s rallies have also had protests, resulting in a handful of arrests, though they haven<u+2019>t resulted in the number of arrests or level of violence seen at trump rallies. the nominating conventions saw arrests and citations, but not on the scale of some past election cycles: the democratic national convention had 11 arrests and 101 citations, while the republican national convention had 23 arrests. that<u+2019>s compared with about 650 arrests during the 1968 democratic convention in chicago. joe funk, president of security firm u.s. safety & security and a retired secret service agent, attributed the lower numbers to prepared, effective policing. part of the tension, mr. funk said, was the result of emotions running high among the electorate. he added that he thought both sides were using rhetoric to stoke their base, leading to the tension that could cause violence. <u+201c>these outbursts, this violence is not spontaneous,<u+201d> mr. funk said. <u+201c>to think that would happen on this scale, spread out over the country as it is, is not reasonable.<u+201d> former republican presidential nominee mitt romney <u+2019>s rallies didn<u+2019>t see the level of violence mr. trump<u+2019>s have stirred up, and mr. romney<u+2019>s director of advance, will ritter, said he couldn<u+2019>t recall any arrests being made at 2012 rallies. mr. ritter laid the blame for the violence partially at the feet of mr. trump, who he said is <u+201c>whipping...up<u+201d> his crowds. <u+201c>these are all things that normal politicians, and honestly just decent people, wouldn<u+2019>t be doing,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s bordering on inciting a riot.<u+201d> when asked to comment on what mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign does to secure rallies, campaign spokeswoman hope hicks said in an email, <u+201c>our goal is to ensure our rallies are safe and enjoyed by all in attendance.<u+201d> mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign hasn<u+2019>t responded to request for comment. the romney campaign<u+2019>s approach was to <u+201c>throw cold water on the situation,<u+201d> mr. ritter said. those who seemed likely to cause trouble, whether romney supporters or protesters, were not allowed into events. mr. funk said that approach was typical, identifying the potential trouble-makers before they entered the event. while both campaigns have secret service protection, security at events is up to the campaigns, who coordinate with private security and local and state law-enforcement agencies, depending on the location of the rally. <u+201c>we only become involved when there<u+2019>s an overt act toward one of our protectees,<u+201d> said cathy milhoan, communications director for the u.s. secret service. ms. milhoan said anything that appears to be a potentially chaotic scene is worked out in advance between security forces and the campaign. the romney campaign removed protesters on occasion, who typically went peacefully, mr. ritter said.
election 2016: a violent season marked with arrests - wsj
allison kite