RAHM TAKING SAFETY PERSONALLY
Mayor vows confidence in marathon security by revealing his son is running in it
Seeking to allay any public jitters about attending this Sunday’s Bank of America Marathon — one of the first major public events to take place in the country since Sunday’s Las Vegas shooting spree — Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered a rare personal note.
At a news conference Tuesday, Emanuel first touted an alphabet soup of federal and local agencies tasked with public safety, and then — perhaps offering up his greatest show of confidence — told reporters his son, Zach, is running the marathon.
The college student will be one of more than 40,000 participants. And Emanuel will be among an estimated 1 million spectators.
An international spotlight accompanies the race, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious.
“I have absolute confidence,” Emanuel said of the city’s preparedness. “And I know, we run exercises all the time,” he said, his fist hitting the lectern with each of the last few words for emphasis.
When asked about the potential for a shooter to open fire on crowds from any number of tall buildings in Chicago along the marathon course, like the gunman in Las Vegas did, Emanuel responded without hesitating.
“I can absolutely guarantee you that is part of our security plan,” he said.
Emanuel said those tasked with securing Chicago’s marathon regularly study previous attacks.
“They look at Vegas, they look at Paris, they look at Brussels, they look at London, they look at Boston, they look at every scenario and then ask: Chicago,” Emanuel said.
Alicia Tate- Nadeau, executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said no security tweaks have been made specifically in response to the shooting in Las Vegas.
“This is not the first time we’ve thought about high- rises and vantage points and things of that nature,” she said. “And I can tell you that we do have a plan that takes that into account. This is not the first year that we’ve thought about that. But, obviously, in light of what has just occurred, we’ve gone back in that program and looked at that again.”
Marathon Director Carey Pinkowski said he was not aware of any runners dropping out of the race due to security concerns.
Emanuel said his son is running to raise money for Puerto Rico hurricane relief.
“I thinkwhat youwill see is determination to not just host this event, not just participate in this event,” Emanuel said, “but to become a spectator that says something about the character of who we are and how we take care of each other.”