Empty cells and hotels: Cleveland takes stock before the convention comes to town
The Cleveland jails are being emptied and its courts are staying open until 1 a.m. in case of mass arrests. Riot gear, handcuffs, body cameras — police equipment that cost tens of millions of dollars — are ready, and more than 70 law enforcement and government agencies are on alert.
The Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland with a giant welcoming party Sunday in a national political climate so divisive that violence is expected and unprecedented police presence is in place.
“You have a lot of angry people in the United States in 2016, and it seems a lot of it is focused on the political process,” said Ronald Adrine, the presiding Cleveland Municipal Court judge.
Adrine said the Republican convention is the focus of a lot of anger, because “you start with a very controversial presumptive nominee who generates a lot of ill feelings and a lot of support, and those tectonic plates are coming together and going to be moving under Cleveland.”
The close proximity of thousands who love or loathe Trump is what law enforcement is most worried about. The fact that Ohio has an open-carry law, allowing people to walk into crowds carrying a rifle if they have a permit, compounds safety concerns.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/empty-cells-and-hotels-cleveland-takes-stock-before-the-convention-comes-to-town/2016/07/13/a4ff5dde-4916-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
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...the Republican National Convention.
