Hours after the attempted rebellion, the opening night of the RNC kicked off with a speech by the controversial “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson, who noted that both he and Donald Trump are reality TV personalities. The night was dubbed “Benghazi night,” featuring a speech by Pat Smith, whose son Sean Smith died alongside U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. Republicans have repeatedly denounced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her handling of the 2012 Benghazi attacks, although a series of investigations have cleared Clinton of wrongdoing. Another speaker was Jamiel Shaw Sr., the father of Jamiel Shaw Jr., who was shot and killed at 17 by an undocumented immigrant in 2008 near their home in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke celebrated the acquittal of Baltimore police officer Brian Rice, one of the officers on trial in the Freddie Gray case, who died from injuries sustained in police custody.

Sheriff David Clarke: “There is some good news out of Baltimore, Maryland, as Lieutenant Brian Rice was acquitted on all charges. … What we witnessed in Ferguson and Baltimore and Baton Rouge was a collapse of the social order. So many of the actions of the Occupy movement and Black Lives Matter transcends peaceful protest and violates the code of conduct we rely on. I call it anarchy.”