THANK YOU Cleveland Police Dept. and partners!!!

During the RNC this week, Cleveland has been crawling with paid protesters hoping to disrupt proceedings, but such efforts have been thus far mostly unsuccessful. Prior to RNC week, and having attended two meetings with presentations from law enforcement, Secret Service, and FBI, I was concerned that Cleveland was still vulnerable. This blog post is to say that no matter what happens tomorrow, Clevelanders owe an enormous thank you to the planning and preparations by Cleveland Police Dept. and its law enforcement partners.

Cleveland Tea Party’s roving photographer, Pat Dooley, took photographs today of many of the LEOs, and spoke for all of us when he thanked them for their service and efforts to keep us safe. You’ll see photographs of local and visiting police, mounted police, highway patrols, and others from Ohio State University, Cleveland Clinic, California, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Austin TX, Florida, Georgia, Ohio National Guard, and many others. (scroll down for photographs or visit the entire album here.

THANK YOU Cleveland Police Dept. and partners!!!

UPDATE at 8:30pm: Geraldo is on O’Reilly at Fox giving credit to Gov. John Kasich for the successful security plans and measures in Cleveland. Whaaaaa  huuuhhhh??? Kasich had NOTHING to do with this! Kasich couldn’t even see his way clear to come to The Q to welcome the delegates to the Convention on Monday in his own state. It’s the Cleveland Police Dept. and FBI and Secret Service and law enforcement partners that deserve our gratitude.

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RNC security update

photo credit: stories.avvo.com

 At the Downtown Cleveland Resident’s RNC Impact Meeting earlier this evening, many specific questions that required specific answers instead elicited general statements intended to reassure those living and working in the downtown area during convention week. One question concerned the report that members of the New Black Panther party will be protesting in Cleveland this week and will be open-carrying firearms. True? True. 

Ohio law allows NBP members who are domiciled in Ohio to open carry. Those from out-of-state cannot. Doesn’t this pose a risk? The strategy: If you see something, say something. There will be policemen everywhere. So that’s it? Some of us wanted more specifics, especially about contingency plans when violence erupts.

As planned, I asked whether they were going to call out the National Guard. The exchange of expressions between the guy from the FBI and the Secret Service guy was telling, as though they had hoped that direct question would not be asked. The Secret Service agent fielded the question by saying that some of the plans that law enforcement has in place will remain confidential. The Ohio National Guard is listed as a partner on the RNC Cleveland website, and I took that non-answer as a yes.

My impression is that all these agencies are walking a fine line between disclosing their security plans sufficiently to reassure Clevelanders, but not so sufficiently as to give anarchists and others intent on disruption and violence, information which they will immediately take on board, the better to execute whatever violent plans they are working on.

On the way back from the meeting, we passed a lot of black SUVs with out-of-state plates, some with FBI dashboard id's, and lots of pallets on the sidewalks with barrier equipment. Going up soon. I also stopped a Cleveland Policeman on the sidewalk, thanked him for serving, and shook his hand. If I am worried about how the next week will go, how must he and his fellow officers feel?

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UPDATE Jul-13: Tina commented (see below), and I found a link to a site called DC Clothesline containing the information. Oath Keepers picked up the report here.  

Can federal agencies protect Cleveland?

photo credit: cleveland.com

Security and safety measures for downtown Cleveland during the Republican National Convention are planned and implemented by local, state, and federal agencies. Personnel from Cleveland Police Dept., Cleveland Fire Dept., Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Dept., state troopers from Michigan and Wisconsin, etc, are working with the Secret Service, the FBI, and FEMA, among other agencies. (Background reports are here and here.)

Just how effective are the federal agencies? Mr. Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds, published a few sobering thoughts in his USA article “FBI's reputation crumbles with Clinton email fumble.” An excerpt:

the FBI is just one of many federal agencies whose reputation for professionalism has taken a hit during the Obama years. The IRS, complicit in targeting Tea Party groups for their political views, is one. The Secret Service, which has figured in numerous sexual scandals and failures to protect, is another. And, in fact, the notion of a “non-partisan” and competent civil service has taken quite a knock, as one agency after another has seemed ready, willing and able to be compromised by politics.

Politicians have a short-term focus, seldom looking past the next election. But for those of us with a longer view, this is a serious problem. As The Atlantic recently noted, trust in government is collapsing around the world. The reason for this, I’m afraid, is that government isn’t trustworthy. 

I will be going to the meeting next week at Cleveland Public Auditorium to hear the updates from law enforcement and other personnel. My list of questions already includes: does CPD intend to deputize, say, any Oath Keepers? Has there been any communication with the Ohio National Guard? Is Gov. Kasich prepared to activate the compact to request National Guard troops from other states?

Am I overly concerned? Well, I was living in Cleveland during the race riots of 1968 and passed armed National Guard troops in jeeps or on foot on just about every street corner heading into downtown. I remember feeling safer because of their presence. Maybe I am overly worried about everyone’s safety during RNC week, but some of the reports and the list of organizations sending in paid protesters make me think that, to paraphrase Miss Piggy, too much preparation is never enough.

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RNC Convention week July 18-21 information

art credit: yahoo.com

Last night, I attended a meeting at the new Hilton Hotel; the meeting was for Clevelanders who live or work in the downtown neighborhoods and who will be affected by the RNC convention next month. My guess is that there were over 300 Clevelanders in attendance. Among the members of the panel were

·         Joe Calabrese, CEO and General Manager of RTA

·         Valarie McCall from Mayor Jackson’s office

·         Joe Marinucci, CEO of Downtown Cleveland Alliance

·         Two Secret Service Agents, Rowe and Lea, assigned to this event

·         Ed Tomba, Deputy Chief of Cleveland Police

Useful information included:

·         identifying the event zone, which includes just about all of the downtown area;

·         limited street access for vehicle traffic (more per the link below)

·        recommendations for traveling in and out of the downtown area during convention week (if at all possible, use the RTA Rapid Transit);

·         RTA will be operating double the number of free trolleys (presumably the E-Line, B-Line, and C-Lines) during convention week;

·         business operating hours will be extended to 4 a.m. – so be prepared for more partying as many bars and restaurants will be staying open till the wee hours;

·          Cleveland PD plans a significantly increased police presence, on the streets, on horseback, on bicycles, in and out of uniform, and augmented by LEOs from across the country and also with Secret Service agents;

·          the malls at the Convention Center will be dedicated to media use

LAW ENFORCEMENT: The takeaway most important to me was that Deputy Chief Ed Tomba stated flat out that if someone breaks the law, whether assault, property damage, etc., law enforcement officers are under instruction to make arrests and remove the individuals. Nobody wants to see the violence and police impotence that we saw on TV and on blog videos recently from San Jose.  

For updates and information specific to Cleveland residents, start at the website here: https://www.2016cle.com/community-updates. The panel promises more updates (some of the sections are already outdated). If you live or work in the downtown event zone or near it, you might want to bookmark the website, especially for updated transportation and safety issues.

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Your tax dollars at work

at credit: www.telegraph.com.uk

From today’s Press Release from Judicial Watch:

Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the Department of the Air Force revealing the Obama family 2015 Christmas vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii, cost the taxpayers $3,590,313.60 in flight expenses alone. According to the Air Force records, the Obamas used both Air Force One and a Boeing C-32A, the military equivalent of a Boeing 757, which was apparently use to transport the First Lady.

Judicial Watch also has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealing that President Obama’s four trips to New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Palm City, Florida in 2014 and 2015 cost taxpayers at least $286,416.64 for Secret Service travel and accommodations.  The Obama trips to New York and Los Angeles were solely for fundraising events. In Chicago, the president campaigned for Rahm Emanuel. The Palm City trip was a golf outing with no official activities.

Judicial Watch has previously reported the flight expenses of the New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Palm City trips.

The records obtained by Judicial Watch for the Obama family’s 2015 Honolulu Christmas vacation reveal the following flight expenses totaling $3,590,313.60:

• Air Force One, at $180,118 per hour for 18.2 hours – totaling $3,278,147.60
• A Boeing C-32A, at $15,846 per hour for 19.7 hours – totaling $312,166

 More infuriating details are here.

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