Chaos at GOP convention a growing concern in Cleveland
Amid recurring violence CLEVELAND — surrounding political rallies held by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, many local officials and activists are increasingly worried that this lakeside city is ill-prepared to deal with tens of thousands of protesters and agitators expected to descend on the Republican National Convention here in July.
Some are concerned that police might be overrun or that the city has not stockpiled enough water to hydrate the masses in the mid-summer heat. Others, particularly on the left, oppose new restrictions that will be placed on demonstrators and object to the kind of military-style equipment law enforcement authorities may use to control the crowds.
There is also unhappiness among groups on both sides over the slow progress the city has made in approving parade and demonstration permits with less than two months to go.
Last week, under the threat of
a federal lawsuit by some groups upset by delays, city officials finally unveiled an official parade route and speakers’ platform in a major downtown park. Parades
and protests will be allowed, but plans by some groups to bring in trucks, horses and, in one case, a giant bombshaped balloon might need to be rethought.
Democratic Mayor Frank G. Jackson defended the pace of preparations, saying his office has waited “because we want to do it right. So in doing it right, you have to take your time to do it right.”
Derided as “The Mistake by the Lake” during its nadir,
this rust-belt city has spent much of this century bid- ding to host a political convention in order to show- case its economic revival. Local business leaders say the city could reap between $200 million and $250 million in economic activity.
But many locals now fear the four-day event, which starts July 18, could be marred or even defined by strife — and some blame Trump for stoking the idea. In March, when the possibility of a contested convention loomed large, Trump warned that “I think you’d have riots” if he didn’t get the nomination. He hasn’t made such comments since clearing the GOP field, but many of his rallies — includ- ing events last week in California and New Mexico — have been the focus of vio- lent clashes between protesters and police.
Trump “set the stage for things to be difficult. They don’t need to be,” said Chris- tine Link, executive director of ACLU of Ohio, which is closely monitoring preparations.
So far, there are at least 10 applications on file for major parades, protests and news conferences beginning the week before the conven- tion, ranging from anti-nuclear groups on the left to a “YUGE victory celebration” for Trump on the right.
Larry Bresler, director of Organize Ohio, submitted applications in March for a demonstration with at least 5,000 participants on the first day of the convention. He hasn’t heard back yet. “I think that their ideal
thing would be for all of us to go away,” he said of city officials.
Global Zero, an anti-nuclear weapons group, has filed plans to erect a large inflatable rocket. The Citizens for Trump group’s declared plans include an “America First Unity Rally” at which as many as 104 trucks and 100 horses could show up.
Tim Selaty Sr., co-founder of the group, did not respond to requests for comment. He tells his followers on the group’s website to anticipate “several thousand of Mr. Trump’s detractors to stage a massive counter protest.”
Other events will push for more AIDS research; the end of federal funding for Planned Parenthood; and more aid to the nation’s poor. There are also reports that members of the band Rage Against the Machine, rapper Chuck D and others might hold a concert here that week.
“We’re going to march with or without permits, it’s our right to do so,” warned Tom Burke, an organizer of “Coalition to Stop Trump and March on the RNC.” His group arranged similar protests at the GOP conventions in 2004 and 2008.
Matt Zone, a Democratic city councilman and chair- man of the public safety committee, joined Jackson in defending the city’s deliber- ate pace, saying that signifi- cant security threats required caution. “We have an obligation
and a right to make sure that those who live and work here and those who are visiting are safe,” he said. “Every permit is getting extra scru- tiny and review.”
Bas ed on the plans released last week, parades
will be allowed each day of the convention along a route that begins on the west side of the Lorraine-Carnegie Bridge — a span that passes
within sight of the Quicken Loans Arena, the convention site. Once across the bridge, marchers will be required to head away from the arena toward a street next to Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team a block from the arena. Given the short route, officials anticipate each march should last about an hour.
Groups seeking to erect signs, art or inflatables can only do so in two parks closer to City Hall, officials said. In Public Square, a downtown park undergoing major reno- vations, anyone can sign up to appear on a stage — but the city is managing the sign-up sheet and microphone system. Each speaker is limited to 30 minutes.
Protesters immediately dismissed the new rules as “extreme limitations” that are “vague and unaccept- able.”
“Confining demonstrators to a short route area for a limited time period in the morning and early afternoon flies in the face of the 1st Amendment’s right to free speech and the right to assemble,” Bresler and the heads of other organizations seeking permits said in a joint statement posted on Facebook.
City officials plan to begin contacting the groups this week to go over the changes and tweak permit applications. “We hope to act as quickly and expeditiously as we can,” said Richard Horvath, the city’s top lawyer.
With pro- and anti-Trump groups expected in the city, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said there are plans to keep them apart to avoid any violence.
“We are prepared for this,” he said, declining to share specifics.
Williams said he will take cues from the U.S. Secret Service, which will lead dozens of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies during convention week. Like Philadelphia — which will host the Democratic convention the week after the GOP event — Cleveland is receiving $50 million in federal grant money to spend on security.
Some civil liberties groups, noting past examples, worry local police will be outfitted with military-style hardware that will remain in use long after the convention. City officials dismiss such con- cerns and said most of the equipment they buy will be sold off after the event.
“We’re buying bikes, we’re buying some small little ATVs,” Zone said. “We’re not buying tanks. We’re not buying grenade launchers. We’re not militarizing our police department.”