Workers were busy erecting barricades around the Charlotte Convention Center, where delegates are set to meet Monday for the mostly virtual Republican National Convention.
There was a heavy police presence Saturday near the convention center and the Westin hotel next door, where delegates are staying during their limited in-person meetings.
A far cry from the 50,000 people originally expected to descend on Charlotte this weekend, 336 delegates will gather Monday to officially nominate President Donald Trump for a second term.
Uptown Charlotte will still see some road closures and checkpoints, and police expect some protests around the convention.
Much of Uptown Charlotte was business-as-usual Saturday afternoon, at least for a city in the middle of a pandemic.
Trump is expected in North Carolina Monday. The White House announced Friday that the president will visit Mills River, just south of Asheville, with his daughter Ivanka Trump and Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue on the opening day of the convention.
The question remains whether the president will make a stop in Charlotte. Politico and other news outlets, citing unnamed sources, say Trump will travel to the RNC site in Uptown Charlotte Monday.
A presidential visit to the Queen City could draw more protests and would certainly bring more traffic impacts.
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Protesters marched near the convention center and around Uptown Charlotte Saturday night, chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot" and other slogans. Police responded, mostly on bicycles, to direct protesters away from the convention center.
Police arrested five protesters late Saturday night after they marched back into the Uptown area. Officers used pepper spray on the protesters after they advanced on a police line, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. One protester was arrested for carrying a gun during the demonstration.
Four people were arrested Friday night during a protest, police said.
About 60 people marched through Uptown Charlotte Friday night, disrupting light rail service and blocking traffic, police said.
The three of those arrested, all between 19 and 23, were charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a government official. A fourth was charged with resisting, disorderly conduct and blocking traffic.
It’s unclear what protests could look like in Charlotte for the rest of the convention.
On Monday, delegates will gather at the Charlotte Convention Center for party business and to formally nominate Trump. The president may make an appearance at the convention hall in Uptown Charlotte, but that’s not confirmed.
The convention’s public broadcast is reportedly slated to run from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The RNC will stream the convention festivities each night on YouTube and Facebook. Featured speakers will be live on Spectrum News 1 and streamed on the Spectrum News App.
The convention will culminate Thursday night with Trump’s acceptance speech from the White House.
Fox News reports most of the RNC programming will be centered on Washington, D.C.’s Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium and some speakers will join virtually from around the country.
Speakers for the week include Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, Fox reports.