Cleveland security measures ramping up ahead of Republican convention
CLEVELAND — This Midwestern city is beginning to feel much like a fortress, ringed with concrete barricades and 8-foot-tall metal fences, police officers on nearly every corner downtown and private security guards filling in the gaps.
Workers labored overnight Friday and through drizzling rain Saturday morning to erect a security perimeter designed to keep protesters away from delegates and other attendees at the Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump on Thursday is slated to become the party’s presidential nominee. Backhoe drivers lifted and placed Jersey barriers on sidewalks and along streets, and workers screwed and hammered together miles of metal fencing. Employees in the city’s downtown core are being forced to park well away from their offices and either walk or take shuttle buses in during convention week.
Although the preparations aren’t out of the ordinary for such a high-profile event, seeing them springing into reality caught many Clevelanders off-guard.
“In the past 10 days, the mood has changed,” said Sam Rosenfeld as he sipped coffee in a downtown coffee shop Saturday morning. “The best word is nervousness."
Authorities are expecting thousands of protesters to take to the city’s streets and parks as they exercise their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble. Dozens of protest groups have received permits for marches, demonstrations and speaking opportunities, but there’s one major absence: the local franchise of Black Lives Matter. The Cleveland group, whose affiliates throughout the country have been thrust into the national spotlight for a demonstration that preceded last week’s deadly ambush of five Dallas-area police officers, has elected not to participate in the formal permitting process. But its organizers intend to have a highly visible presence in the city.
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It’s clear city officials are preparing for the worst: All pending municipal court cases have been suspended to make way for near round-the-clock arraignments of protesters who are arrested during the assembly, and authorities have set aside space across the metro area to detain hundreds of people.
One of the first big tests for security officials could come Monday afternoon, with a march and demonstration by the Coalition to Stop Trump, a consortium of immigration advocates, Muslim rights supporters, critics of police tactics and anti-poverty groups. The controversial Westboro Baptist Church also is expected to protest during the week, along with motorcycle groups who say they are coming to protect delegates from protesters. The New Black Panthers say they intend to openly carry rifles on the streets of Cleveland, which permits “open carry" under state law.
Police brace for days of protests in Cleveland
In a statement, the Cleveland Police Department said it recognizes that protesters have a First Amendment right to make their voices heard: "No matter how offensive to some, we are keenly aware that expressing views by itself is not a crime and the protections afforded under the Constitution cannot be compromised.”
Getting it wrong can be costly. Denver city officials were forced to pay $200,000 after losing a lawsuit brought by the ACLU over wrongful arrests and detentions during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The ACLU and Amnesty International have both sent monitors to oversee how authorities deal with protesters.
Officials are reluctant to discuss specific security precautions, but many are becoming clear around the downtown core. Air-contamination monitors from the Department of Homeland Security whir on side streets, vehicle barriers block access to the downtown core, and police officers are carrying gas masks strapped to their legs.
On Saturday morning, officers stood watch over security preparations as a steady rain fell, taking shelter under trees or the eaves of buildings. But they weren’t sitting in their patrol cars — the city has withdrawn many of them from the downtown core to protect them from angry protesters who often target police cars for what they symbolize.
“The common refrain we heard was this wouldn’t be any different than having the Cavs and the Browns playing on the same day,” said Rosenfeld, a longtime security consultant and downtown resident for more than two years. “That’s clearly not true. What you’re seeing downtown is the increasing realization of what might happen. It doesn’t feel like anything we’ve seen before in Cleveland, the level of security we’re seeing now."
