Officials at next month’s Republican National Convention in
Cleveland will be largely powerless to keep supporters and opponents of
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump apart in the area around the
convention center,
creating a security situation that experts warn is
potentially volatile.
The city of Cleveland is assuming responsibility for a zone of
about three square miles around the convention site, where an array of security
restrictions will be in place. But because of constitutional concerns as well
as best practices gleaned from previous political conventions, city officials
said protesters will be largely free to roam as long as they don’t block
vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
With thousands of demonstrators expected to descend on the city,
security officials are bracing for the possibility of major protests against
Mr. Trump, whose rhetoric regarding immigrants in particular has drawn spirited
and sometimes violent protests on the campaign trail this year.
The protesters expected in Cleveland include groups of all
ideological stripes—many openly antagonistic to one another. Anti-war
demonstrators, progressives opposed to Mr. Trump’s agenda, groups rallying for
economic or social justice, bikers and truckers showing support of the
presumptive GOP nominee and the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, which
protests the country’s tolerance of gay and lesbian relationships, have all
applied for demonstration permits or vowed to show up in Cleveland for the
convention, which will run July 18 to 21.
“They’re trying to mix oil and water—possibly igniting and
inflaming tensions,” said Ralph King, a Cleveland resident who is helping
organize a pro-Trump demonstration for the week of the convention.
Cleveland’s security rules place sharp limits on official parades
and demonstrations. Speakers, platforms and sound-amplification systems have
been banned, effectively limiting the size of rallies. Protesters will be
allowed only hand-held electronic megaphones and bullhorns. But at the same
time, protesters will be allowed broad latitude to protest without permits in
the area around the convention center, so long as they don’t interfere with
traffic.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought suit on behalf of
Citizens for Trump as well as two other groups against Cleveland’s protest
rules this month, calling them “draconian” in a legal complaint.
A federal judge struck down those rules as unconstitutional last
week. The city reached a tentative settlement in the lawsuit that was being
finalized over the weekend, but the details of the agreement haven’t been
announced to the public. The settlement is expected to include compromises
between the city and protesters on the time and location of parade routes and
the number of parks available for demonstrations.
Closer to the convention site, the U.S. Secret Service will
establish a much smaller and tighter security perimeter around Quicken Loans
Arena, where only delegates, media and party officials with credentials will be
allowed. The agency referred questions about protesters to the city. A spokesman
for the mayor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Mayor Frank
Jackson said in May: “We are prepared.”
Though protests at political conventions are common, the stakes are
greater this year with tensions running high over Mr. Trump’s comments on
banning Muslims and cracking down on illegal immigrants.
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