Small group protests outside of Democratic Convention

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Outside of the MassMutual Center where the Democratic Convention took place, protests were expected and some did make some noise.

People chanted and sang, holding signs right in front of the entrance of the MassMutual Center.

It was expected to be a loud morning because of the recently contentious race between Senator Scott Brown and Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren.

Some wanted to make sure Democrats heard their concerns about weak legislation regarding homeownership and foreclosure. David Dunwell from Springfield No One Leaves said,“Solidarity, we can't be defeated, so we need our senators, we need all the people that say they stand for the people to stand up right now at this moment and vote for the people and protect the people of Massachusetts.”

But over the last several weeks, the question over Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage has taken center stage.

A group of Cherokee Native American protesters were expected to stand up against Warren during the convention.

From the protesters who were outside early Saturday morning they said there was a group of three Cherokee Native Americans who were there in protest but they only stayed for a brief amount of time.

Which is a move that Democrats say was planned by Senator Brown.

Kevin Franck, Communications Director for the Massachusetts Democratic Party said,“It's no surprise to us that Scott Brown and his allies are desperate to distract Massachusetts families from his horrible record of standing with Wall Street and big corporations in Washington, we heard they were going to go so far as to bring in out of state rabble-rousers to try and draw attention to themselves, we welcome those displays of democracy.”

Despite this attention to Warren's controversy surrounding her heritage, a new poll from the Western New England University Polling Institute shows voters are split nearly even between Brown and Warren.