This year, Law Street Media is attending both the RNC and DNC conventions, and bringing Law Street readers the inside scoop. We’ll be doing day-by-day rundowns and exclusive features. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat for even more content.

Here’s a look at the second day of the festivities, courtesy of Law Street reporters Kevin Rizzo and Alec Siegel:

There Was Some High Quality Merch for Sale

Image courtesy of Kevin Rizzo for Law Street Media

Image courtesy of Kevin Rizzo for Law Street Media

Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media

Ben Carson Talks About Hillary Clinton and the Devil

Tuesday night’s theme was “Make America Work Again” and although many speakers veered off topic during their remarks, Ben Carson may have also deviated from his prepared remarks. He appeared to make an association between Hillary Clinton, and well, the devil.

Carson notes that Clinton wrote her senior thesis on Saul Alinsky and he went as far as saying that Alinsky was a mentor of hers. As Politifact notes, Clinton did write her senior thesis about Alinsky and Alinsky’s book “Rules for Radicals” does include an epigraph referencing Lucifer, but the rest of the connection appears to be tenuous. Ultimately, Clinton disagreed with Alinsky’s goal of changing the system from outside, and as for Lucifer, I’m not really sure where Carson was going with that.

Here’s a clip from Carson’s speech:

Even More Plagiarism? Not Quite

Donald Trump Jr. gave the strongest speech of the night on Tuesday and possibly the strongest speech in the first two days of the convention. He invoked traditional Republican themes of hard work and the American Dream with a forceful eloquence that moved the crowd. However, just as plagiarism became the topic of conversation last night, one of Trump Jr.’s lines appears to have been lifted from a recent essay. But it’s a little more complicated than that. Here’s a tweet from the “Daily Show” pointing out the similarity:

pic.twitter.com/QEftnTTwy3

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 20, 2016

As is the case for nearly every major speech (although possibly not Melania Trump’s), the speaker didn’t write the actual speech. Or they at least had some help from a professional speechwriter. That appears to explain what happened last night. And the essay that the piece was taken from? The speechwriter wrote that too. The author of the American Conservative essay said that he simply recycled his own material rather than copying someone else’s.

We Did Some Snapchat Evangelism

I explained Snapchat to a Texas delegate. He was rightly baffled. #RNCinCLE

— Alec Siegel (@beardedbard92) July 20, 2016

There Were a Ton of Protestors and Vendors and Local Flavor

Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media

Covered by a slice of shade under a small tree, a woman quietly practiced yoga. A sign at her side read: “Pro police, anti brutality.” In the middle of the square surrounding the monument, a man hawked “Trump whoopie cushions.” Another man–in a red, white and blue tie dye shirt and shoulder length hair–sat on the steps and strummed his guitar, a tin can at his side printed with the words, “make America free again.”

Image courtesy of Kevin Rizzo for Law Street Media

And on East 4th Street, an alleyway filled with restaurants and bars that juts out from the “Q,” people of all stripes expressed themselves in a myriad number of ways. One woman stood still and silent, in an olive green headscarf and a black shirt (“As-salamu Alaykum” printed on the front), next to a table selling tie dyed Trump t-shirts.

A young man walked his bicycle along the narrow street, under a blazing afternoon sun. A light blue crate was tied to the back of his bike, filled with books. “Make America read again,” he said as he paced the alleyway. Others held dueling signs promoting two wildly different (and at the moment, wildly trendy) societal systems: “I <3 Capitalism” and “Jesus was a Socialist.”

And Donald Trump Became the Official Republican Nominee

Regardless of what happens in November, this movement is real. The passion is palpable in Cleveland. #RNCinCLE

— Alec Siegel (@beardedbard92) July 20, 2016

Trump is officially the Republican nominee. This is not a drill #RNCinCLE

— Kevin Rizzo (@kevinrizzo10) July 19, 2016

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What’s up at the RNC?: Law Street’s Day 2 Coverage appeared first on Law Street.

This year, Law Street Media is attending both the RNC and DNC conventions, and bringing Law Street readers the inside scoop. We’ll be doing day-by-day rundowns and exclusive features. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat for even more content.

Here’s a look at the first day of the festivities, courtesy of Law Street reporters Kevin Rizzo and Alec Siegel:

Day 1’s theme was Making America Safe Again. And the Republican National Convention in Cleveland started off with an unusual bout of excitement. In a day filled with a range of speakers, from senators, to Melania Trump, and even Scott Baio, a lot of the excitement happened before the prime time speakers took stage.

The Rules Fight

In a last ditch effort to thwart the nomination of Donald Trump, a group of delegates attempted to force a roll call vote instead of a voice vote to accept the party rules. Chants erupted on the convention floor after three state delegations reportedly dropped their support of a measure to change the voting procedure used to approve the party rules.

Although the effort had little chance of success, it amounted to a rare show of disunity and chaos on the convention floor. It also wasn’t the only time a voice vote caused an uproar on Monday. In a largely symbolic vote to make Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell temporary chairman, the “nays” appeared to have outbid the “ayes,” yet Reince Priebus, the acting chair, concluded that the “ayes” won.

in a voice vote just now to name Mitch McConnell temporary chairman, the Nays were arguably louder. Priebus said the Ayes won.

— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) July 18, 2016

Alec Has a Weird Pierogi Run In

Quicken Loans Perimeter: Pierogi and Press. Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media.

Monday evening, reporters were still scrambling over the grounds on the perimeter, scrounging for last-minute food before the dive into Quicken Loans. Pierogi–pillows of dough filled with cheese–were being sold at one popular concession tent, a nod to Cleveland’s large Polish population. A moment that seems to sum up the caffeine fueled, sleep-less nature of the convention: a reporter from a TV outlet stumbled up to me–overcome by the smell of my delicious pierogi–and asked where he could get some. I told him I was the last sale of the night. Tears welling up in his eyes, he said, “I’m gonna pass out if I don’t eat,” and ambled off, mic and camera cord dragging behind him.

We Weren’t Allowed to Bring our Drones in

Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media

Rudy Giuliani Gets the Crowd Going

All of Monday night’s speakers were well received by the audience, but no one got the crowd louder than former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. The theme was “Make America Safe Again” and Giuliani touched on the Republicans’ greatest hits. From a full-throated defense of American police officers to a long tirade decrying radical islamic terrorism, everyone in the crowd stood as he spoke.

Giuliani gets the crowd to the loudest volume of the night with his defense of police officers #RNCinCLEpic.twitter.com/gw2LaLruIt

— Kevin Rizzo (@kevinrizzo10) July 19, 2016

While it was certainly an exciting speech, it’s also important to take a closer look at what many of the speakers were describing on Monday night. The theme was “Make America Safe Again” and with that came many references to crime rates and policing. But what many might not recognize is that violent crime has dropped precipitously over the past several decades. The United States today has considerably less violent crime than it did a couple decades ago.

Here’s a graph from Gallup that shows how public opinion and the reality of crime rates are often far apart. For years, many people believed that violent crime was increasing while, in fact, it was consistently going down. So the convention speakers’ calls for law and order may be doing more to evoke emotion than accurately describing the facts on the ground.

Liberal Bashing was Visible

Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media

There were plenty of jabs at Hillary, too.

“Hillary Clinton wants to be the president of Hillary Clinton”-Scott Baio #RNCinCLE

— Alec Siegel (@beardedbard92) July 19, 2016

“Hillary loves her pantsuits…but we should send her an email saying she deserves an orange jumpsuit” #RNCinCLE

— Alec Siegel (@beardedbard92) July 19, 2016

A Little Bit of Plagiarism?

Melania Trump was the headline speaker on Monday night, even receiving an introduction from none other than Donald Trump. Also of note, Trump’s intro may have been his shortest public speaking appearance yet in the campaign. While brief, Trump’s appearance came with his fair share of fanfare–he walked out to “We Are the Champions” and exclaimed “we’re gonna win so big” upon taking the podium. But everyone was there to see Mrs. Trump, a point that became clear as the crowd almost immediately filed out when she was done speaking.

Although Melania Trump’s speech appeared to go off without a hitch, a short while after after her speech some “striking similarities” were recognized between her remarks and Michelle Obama’s famous address at the Democratic Convention in 2008. You can see for yourself:

So that’s pretty blatant, right? pic.twitter.com/EPnHME7afV

— Mike Hearn (@mikehearn) July 19, 2016

Texas’s Delegates Win Alec’s Fashion Awards for Day 1

Texas state delegates were hard to miss. They showed up in their state costume: a cowboy hat and a red, white, and blue collared shirt. Some wore jeans. Toward the end of the night, one Texas cowboy walked off into the night in a cowboy hat and skirt. A red, white and blue skirt, to be specific, and he had his dog at his side, also decked out in patriotic hues.

The Texas Delegates Are Not Messing Around At The RNC! #NeverTrump #CruzCrew pic.twitter.com/Tg6A2UDMiE

— DLW (@Dlw20161950) July 18, 2016

You Couldn’t Miss the Police Presence

Police presence at the exits. Image courtesy of Alec Siegel for Law Street Media.

And in what is probably convention tradition, but especially amplified in light of the last few tumultuous weeks, sheriffs and police certainly made their presence known on Day 1. Brawny clumps of men with badges and sheriffs hats watched the proceedings from the perimeter on the TV screen. After Melania Trump spoke, most of the attendees spilled out from the “Q” (The cordoned off area where reporters and delegates are allowed–Quicken Loans and its perimeter).

The mass of us wound through a fenced off maze, finally spilling out onto East Fourth Street, an alleyway of restaurants and bars, many rented out for the week from news outlets like CNN and The Washington Post. Police formed a human boundary on both sides as we made our way from the “Q,” into the Cleveland night, off to get some sleep for day two.

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What’s up at the RNC?: Law Street’s Day 1 Coverage appeared first on Law Street.

** Warning: As the title would suggest, this post will contain and link to some NSFW nudity

Some brazen broads in the #NeverTrump movement have devised a new tool to use against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee–female nudity. In an effort to stop Trump from making it to the oval, and to make the Republican National Convention (RNC) as awkward as possible, women are baring it all for anti-Trump votes and female empowerment.

Tramps Against Trump

This movement, comprised of mostly sex workers, has promised to exchange #Votes4Nudes in order to steal votes away from Trump.

#votes4nudesusa #trampsagainsttrump @election2016 pic.twitter.com/hxt98TnC2Q

— Tramps Against Trump (@votes4nudesusa) June 4, 2016

The Tramps Against Trump creator, who goes by the pseudonym “Jessica Rabbit,” told Motherboard, “In the past we had Rock the Vote and other ways to get the vote out, but what do young people like now? They like naked people on the internet. So, we’re using naked people on the internet to make a change and get people excited about something.”

Rabbit and her cohorts are in strong opposition to Trump’s anti-abortion (and some would say anti-women) stances, which threaten both their bodies and their livelihoods.

“Whoever becomes president will have a direct effect on what we can and can’t do with our bodies, and how the law will move forward relating to us,” Rabbit said. “For sex workers, this is a really important election.”

In order to receive nudes, 18 and up voters need only provide a selfie with proof of vote (i.e. a voter receipt).

But don’t even think about bullying any of these ladies to send you pics. This site has a strictly enforced zero tolerance policy for “harassment, racism, homophobia, transphobia or body shaming of ANY KIND” and violators will immediately be blocked.

Nude Art Installation Outside RNC convention

As a disclaimer let me admit that this isn’t a protest of Trump per se, but the nudity will be directed right at him.

Photographer Spencer Tunick, who is best known for organizing large-scale nude shoots, is seeking 100 women volunteers to pose naked in a group art installation in July during the week of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

This piece, which will be titled “Everything She Says Means Everything,” will involve women holding large mirror discs aimed at the convention center in order to “reflect the knowledge and wisdom of progressive women and the concept of ‘Mother Nature.'”

Tunick explained the piece’s philosophy on his site writing, “By holding mirrors, we hope to suggest that women are a reflection and embodiment of nature, the sun, the sky and the land.” Adding, “The mirrors communicate that we are a reflection of ourselves, each other, and of, the world that surrounds us. The woman becomes the future and the future becomes the woman.”

You can volunteer to pose naked in Tunick’s Cleveland installation here.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Women Bare Their Naked Rumps to Protest Donald Trump appeared first on Law Street.