Many Charges Are Dismissed In G.O.P. Convention Protests Lawyers for the protesters arrested during the convention said the court results confirmed their complaint at the time that the arrests by the Philadelphia police were a pre- emptive street-sweeping tactic designed to stifle lawful protest and head off distractions from the convention agenda. Most of the protesters, who were interested in a variety of causes, including capital punishment and labor conditions in a global economy, spent a week or more in jail and were released after the convention, said the R2K Legal Collective, the main defense group for the demonstrators.