The president of the Cleveland Police Union will reportedly ask Governor Kasich (R-OH) to ban all open carry of weapons during the Republican convention.
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“While we are strong supporters of an individual’s right to bear arms, having individuals carrying firearms throughout the Downtown area of Cleveland where passionate protesters from all parts of the world are converging only increases the potential for violence”, Loomis said. “They can fight about it after the RNC or they can lift it after the RNC, but I want him to absolutely outlaw open-carry in Cuyahoga County until this RNC is over”. “Ohio governors do not have the power to arbitrarily suspend federal and state constitutional rights or state laws as suggested”. Weapons are only now banned in and around Quicken Loans Arena, site of the RNC. “Everyone has an important role to play in that renewal”.
The Republican National Convention starts Monday, and Williams said in a Sunday appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” he expects groups of all stripes to be vocal throughout the four-day convention when reality TV star and businessman Donald Trump presumably will be named the party’s nominee for president. “And if the law says you can have open carry, that’s what it says”. “An AR-15, a shotgun, multiple handguns”.
“Don’t tell me it can’t be done”, Loomis said.
Steve Thacker, who lives just outside Cleveland, told reporters that he traveled into the city just to make his views on open-carry heard and to “demonstrate [his] second amendment rights”. But recent events, including a terror attack in Nice, France, last week and the fatal ambush of police officers in Dallas and Louisiana have heightened concerns about what might happen in Cleveland. “And that’s exactly what they’re doing by bringing those guns down there”.
The union has also reached out to Police Chief Calvin Williams, asking that officers – some of whom have been positioned alone and without vehicles – be grouped together on their patrols, especially outside of the downtown security zones. The city also has drawn unwanted national attention because of high-profile police shootings and use-of-force incidents that helped lead to an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the 1,500-member police department.
Simply put, Loomis said, officers will have to take extra precautions around anyone and everyone who chooses to carry a rifle, which might distract them from necessary enforcement actions.
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“We’re going to be doing things differently [after the Baton Rouge attack]”, said Loomis. That is absolute insanity to me.
