Cleveland police on Friday tightened their security plan for the Republican National Convention after the deadly shootings of police officers in Dallas, increasing surveillance and intelligence operations just 10 days before the convention.
Advertisement
Turner, who is black, told reporters Friday that the July 18-21 convention was already “a powder keg”, and the new violence makes it more explosive.
FILE – In this December 29, 2015, file photo, a man yells at authorities during a protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict two white Cleveland police officers in the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy who was playing with a pellet gun, in Cleveland. The partnership would have, like Uber has planned for the DNC in Philadelphia, let Uber shuttle delegates and party officials around Cleveland via a special version of the app, calling on a fleet exclusive to convention-goers.
Cleveland has about 1,700 police officers and about a third of the force will be assigned to convention-related duties, while federal agencies and out-of-town forces – mostly from across OH – will help secure the convention perimeter.
The ambush of the officers in Dallas came from sniper fire.
A tumultuous campaign primary season and controversial comments by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump fueled violent clashes at events he held in San Jose and Burlingame, California, Chicago and Fayetteville, North Carolina, that have helped fan concerns about Cleveland. “They are going to be very, very active”, Tomba said.
Tomba said he spent part of Friday morning reassuring out-of-town police departments that their officers on loan to Cleveland will be safe during the convention, telling them in an email that “we can not pull the plan off without them”.
Advertisement
Then in 2014, four months after the Republicans chose Cleveland for the convention, a white police officer shot dead 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was black, in a case that became a national focal point for the protest movement Black Lives Matter. Several other departments had earlier withdrawn assistance offers over insurance coverage questions and other issues. A police union official said some officers had expressed a desire to be in two-officer cars instead of alone for increased safety.
