Speaking from a cell phone Wednesday in New York City, Ryan Conrad, 21, of Lewiston, said he had dual goals today on the last and biggest day of the Republican National Convention.

One was to continue protesting “Bush and the Republican agenda.” He also planned to help get his friend, Nicholas Klinovsky, out of jail.

Klinovsky, a 19-year-old Bates College student from Washington, D.C., was arrested at the protest on charges of assaulting an officer and inciting a riot, Conrad said. He called the charges “totally bogus.”

“A lot of people who came here to oppose Bush can’t leave because they’re in jail,” Conrad said. “My friend has a $20,000 bail. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. People are getting picked up for being on the sidewalk.”

Reached at home in University Park, Md., Klinovsky’s mother said it was her understanding her son was simply swept up in the fervor Sunday as protesters clashed with police.

“He didn’t go there to cause any harm,” said Laurie Klinovsky. “He was doing his civic duty. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

By late Wednesday night, things were not looking much better for Klinovsky. Conrad said police had arrested a lawyer working for free to defend protesters. Details about that arrest were not clear, but Conrad said the situation seemed to be getting worse rather than better. It appeared Klinovsky would spend a few more days behind bars.

“He will be going before a judge on Friday,” Laurie Klinovsky said. “Hopefully, the matter will get resolved.”

Klinovsky is a student in the Bates class of 2006. He was expected to be ready for classes when they begin Sept. 8. According to Bates spokesman Brian McNulty, the school was not involved in efforts to get Klinovsky out of jail.

“This is someone who is an adult and who has been arrested,” McNulty said Wednesday night. “I’m sure he’ll be going through the normal processes that takes place with something like that.”

Meanwhile, Conrad was with another group of people late Wednesday night, greeting those protesters who did manage to get sprung from jail.

Conrad is active in the Maine People’s Alliance in Lewiston. He was one in a group on bicycles Sunday during the huge march protesting against President Bush. Police arrested some of them, but Conrad said he was one of the fortunate ones who got away by running and ditching his bike. He then joined the march. “It was enormous,” he said. Since Sunday, police have “targeted the bikes all week,” the Lewiston man said.

Despite the arrests, Conrad said he was glad to be in New York City, a city he said supports the protesters. “It’s amazing to see how many people from New York are with us.” Some newspapers in the city “have more on the protesters than the convention. I consider that a victory,” Conrad said. “Everywhere Republicans went this week, they were met with protesters.”

Like a lot of other protesters, Conrad said he’s opposed to the Republican agenda of seeking bans on gay marriage and abortions. He also disagrees with the invasion of Iraq. “What they’re doing is putting a lot of people, civilians and the military, at risk, ” Conrad said.

On the day that the president accepts his party’s renomination, veterans opposed to the war will hold a 12-hour vigil recalling American soldiers who died in Iraq. “It will be like going to the wall,” said Peggy Akers, 57, of Portland, referring to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. Akers is a former Army nurse who served in Vietnam, and a member of Veterans for Peace. Veterans for Peace and a new group, Iraq Veterans Against the War, are organizing the vigil, Akers said.

“When you walk to the wall, you get an overwhelming sadness of how could mankind do this to one another,” she said. She predicted today’s demonstration will evoke the same feeling. “You’ll see crosses and boots” representing fallen soldiers. “It will show what happens in war, the loss of lives and what a waste it is.”