In reality, those who took to the streets were mostly Minnesotans and were better educated, more likely to have a job and about the same age as the general population.
They were also more likely to be gay, to be affiliated with a union and — compared with protesters at the earlier Democratic National Convention in Denver — espoused a Minnesota Nice brand of civic engagement. In other words, they were more likely to express confidence in the U.S. form of government and more likely to say most people can be trusted.
Those are the results of a survey of the protesters at both conventions led by political scientists from the University of Minnesota, the University of Denver and the University of Michigan.
As the activists took to the streets to march, chant and picket in St. Paul and Denver, the academics gathered data.
They deployed teams of student surveyors to approach participants at random at protest events and ask them to fill out a 15-minute survey. In Denver, 412 people responded, for a response rate of 65 percent. In St. Paul, protesters were even more cooperative: 990 filled out surveys, a 73 percent response rate.
Here are some of the results, according to a recent article in the CURA Reporter, a publication of the University of Minnesota's Center of Urban and Regional Affairs:
"This combination of trust in the system in general but dissatisfaction with specific policies or outcomes is a potent force that compels some to engage in unconventional forms of participation such as protesting, but to do so in a way that has the potential to be constructive, not violent or disruptive," according to the CURA Reporter article.
"I don't want to call it Minnesota Nice. I want to call it Minnesota civic-mindedness," said Dara Strolovitch, a University of Minnesota associate political science professor and one of the researchers behind the survey.
Strolovitch said protesters in Minnesota were more likely than their Colorado counterparts to be Democrats hopeful about their chances of electing a Democratic president. That may explain why they were more optimistic about the U.S. system of government.
In Denver, more of the protesters included the ends of the political spectrum, both conservatives and radicals. Both groups could be skeptical of government and the legitimacy of the system.
Strolovitch said while news outlets might focus on scruffy anarchists at protest events, "people who tend to engage in intensive political activism in general do tend to be more affluent and educated."
Although union numbers have diminished in recent years, the survey results show they still have an impact in motivating political activity.
"They were much more of a mobilizing force than the anarchists," Strolovitch said.
Both the DNC and the RNC were national events, but the protests reflected the local civic and political environment, according to the CURA Reporter article.
Strolovitch said that might have been the case because the conventions were in the middle of the country and less likely to attract out-of-town protesters than a convention in an East Coast metropolitan area.
"To get to Minnesota, most people have to get on a plane, and it's more expensive," she said.