Skip to footer

After more Trump-rally clashes, is Cleveland ready for GOP Convention?

Violent protests after a San Jose Trump rally raise questions about Cleveland's ability to handle clashes when an expected 50,000 visitors attend the convention in July.

|
Noah Berger/AP
Police form a line to contain protesters outside a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday in San Jose, Calif.

Protesters mobbed Donald Trump supporters following a Trump rally in San Jose Thursday – a reminder of questions about whether Cleveland authorities will have the capacity to handle potentially larger confrontations around the Republican Convention in July.

Around 300 protesters descended on supporters of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee outside the San Jose Convention Center, punching more than 12 people, throwing eggs, chasing Trump supporters, and banging on their cars.

Such scenes have become increasingly common outside Trump rallies and have placed added pressure on Cleveland officials to step up security planning efforts head of the convention scheduled for July 18-21.

Earlier this week, Cleveland authorities made assurances they had strong plans in place ahead of the convention to handle potential clashes between opponents and protesters as an estimated 50,000 visitors descend on the Ohio city.

"The city of Cleveland under Mayor [Frank] Jackson's direction really has been 'all in' going back several years in wooing the convention here," Ed Eckert, the city's assistant public safety director, told reporters on Tuesday, as Cleveland.com reports. "And since we've been awarded the convention, everyone at City Hall has been fully engaged."

The city is also bringing in some of the nation's top security officials, who helped with Pope Francis's visit in Philadelphia and also the Washington Nuclear Security Summit, to bolster public safety.

But other out-of-state authorities who had initially offered to help have since declined, citing their perception that Cleveland is not prepared to host the convention.

The North Carolina Police Department was going to send 50 of its officers but has since withdrawn the offer, also citing worries about local staffing and worker compensation.

The Cleveland county's 911 service went down for around 20 minutes earlier this week, leading to questions over whether the city's infrastructure is up to the expected influx of visitors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

However, the city’s police chief Calvin Williams said the city is up to the task.

"A lot of the focus has been put on the police, and are we prepared for this convention," he said. "We are prepared, we are ready, and our partners are out there prepared and ready."

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to After more Trump-rally clashes, is Cleveland ready for GOP Convention?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0603/After-more-Trump-rally-clashes-is-Cleveland-ready-for-GOP-Convention
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe