Protests Turn Violent

Late Monday night there was an isolated incident of violence by protesters. Cable networks have been hyping is pretty heavily.

NEW YORK (AP) – Relations between Republican National Convention protesters and the thousands of New York City officers assigned to police them turned ugly Monday when a march from the United Nations to Madison Square Garden ended with a violent confrontation.

A protester attacked and seriously injured a plainclothes detective, according to police and witnesses. Hundreds of police in riot gear swarmed the area, pushing protesters away from the Garden and into nearby side streets. Four other police officers suffered minor injuries during the scuffle.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called it “a blatant, vicious attack.”

The plainclothes detective who was attacked, William Sample, was hospitalized Tuesday with serious facial trauma, but his injuries were not life threatening, police said. His assailant was being sought by police.

The protest began when a crowd of several thousand outside U.N. headquarters negotiated with police to march to Madison Square Garden despite not having a permit.

“They asked if they could march, and we said yes,” police Assistant Deputy Commissioner Tom Doepfner said. “We try to be nice.”

A wall of uniformed police on motor scooters blocked off half of Second Avenue as marchers trooped down city streets. Police steered the restless, unwieldy crowd through midtown Manhattan rush-hour traffic as cars backed up 10 blocks in places.

The march ended at the protest area south of the Garden. Witnesses said the confrontation began as police tried to use interlocking metal fences to contain the thousands of protesters. Some protesters began to push against the fences, witnesses said.

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