Federal, state and city officials are tightening security plans for the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions amid heightened concern after the deadly ambush of police officers on July 7 in Dallas, Texas.
“Anytime there’s a national spotlight on a political event in the United States, there’s a risk that groups that aspire ... to engage in acts of domestic terrorism will be attracted,” FBI Director James Comey said during congressional testimony Thursday.
Department of Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson told lawmakers, “I am concerned about the possibility of violence. I am concerned about the prospect of demonstrations getting out of hand.”
Johnson said he would travel to Cleveland on Friday and Philadelphia next Friday to inspect the security at both convention sites.
About 50,000 people are expected to converge on Cleveland, Ohio, for the Republican National Convention July 18-21, where Donald Trump is likely to be named the party’s presidential nominee.
A week later, a similar number will gather in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Democrats will crown Hillary Clinton as their party’s presidential candidate.
Security concerns in Cleveland are compounded by Ohio’s status as an open-carry state, meaning anyone with a legally permitted gun may carry it openly.
“We’re going to make sure we stay vigilant,” said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams. “But we also want to make sure that we ask the community to remain vigilant.”
Williams said he would prefer that people not openly carry firearms during the Republican convention, but added, “I’m bound to uphold the law in the state,” and he insisted the city was prepared.
The U.S. Secret Service has banned guns inside the main convention site, Quicken Loans Arena, as well in the security perimeter around the site. However, protesters with firearms will be allowed to carry them in the 4.4-square-kilometer event zone surrounding the arena as long as the guns are holstered.
Williams declined to specify what changes were made after the Dallas shootings, but officials have increased surveillance and intelligence operations and have installed metal security barriers. They have also moved up by one week the activation of a tip line for reporting suspicious activity.
Even before the Dallas shootings, officials in Cleveland were concerned about the potential for violent clashes between Trump supporters and opponents, who will share park space in the event zone only blocks from the convention site.
Physical altercations between protesters and Trump supporters have occurred during the campaign season, and law enforcers have long planned for the possibility of more in Cleveland.
On Monday, Trump stopped just short of predicting more violence.
“I mean, you were having big, big trouble in many cities,” he said. “And I think that might be just the beginning for this summer.”
As Trump and Clinton have repeatedly attacked each other, resentment has deepened among their followers, which could have consequences at the two conventions.
The Cleveland mayor’s office said the “size and significance of the convention creates unique challenges” for the city, thus the implementation of special restrictions.
Cleveland officials plan to enforce strict rules to control demonstrators. Protest areas will be hundreds of meters from Quicken Loans Arena. Although guns will be allowed, common items like glass bottles, large backpacks, mace and canned goods will be banned from the event zone.
A federal judge last month struck down city rules for protesters within the event zone, declaring the security plan “severely limited” opportunities for free expression. The rules would have limited where demonstrators could speak within the zone. The previous security plan was replaced with a new one that expanded the parade route for protesters. It also added buffers between protest groups.
In Philadelphia, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Monday that the Dallas shootings had “required that we do things different tactically,” but he declined to elaborate on strategies.
Philadelphia officials have taken a different approach than their counterparts in Cleveland. The city will allow supporters of former Clinton rival Bernie Sanders to rally throughout the day in a park across the street from the convention site at Wells Fargo Center.
The arena will be protected by a newly constructed perimeter more than 1.5 meters high.
