Rain slows fiery Democratic National Convention protests

Despite President Barack Obama’s fiery speech Wednesday night, the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia had a relaxed environment.

In Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, across the street from the convention in Wells Fargo Center, protesters camped out in tents with signs criticizing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, capitalism and the DNC itself.

“We promote being human,” said Elliott Hess, an anarchist farmer and member of The People’s Project who was distributing free vegan chili and tea.

Down in Center City, at least 100 protesters gathered in Dilworth Plaza across from City Hall to protest the Democratic National Committee’s treatment of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Several Sanders-supporting delegates spoke to the crowd, encouraging listeners to circumvent the two-party system and be politically active and said they were “treated like s**t” by the Democratic party.

“If Bernie lost fair and square, I probably would’ve voted for Hillary,” Bruce Carter, of Black Men For Bernie, said.

Once it began to rain around 2 p.m., Carter’s group — the demonstration’s organizers — brought the event to a close by urging the crowd to “de-register” from the Democratic party while opening the microphone to other protesters for final remarks.

“We’re not going to sit on our asses and complain back home,” Kimberly Lowe, a Virginia delegate, said.