CLEVELAND — My mother would be very happy to know that I’m probably in the safest place on the planet this week as I cover the Republican National Convention.
“Be careful,” my mother must have said to me a hundred times in the weeks leading up to our trip to Cleveland for the convention. She clearly has read all the news coverage about how thousands and thousands of people were coming to town to protest the nomination of Donald Trump.
Rumors have been rampant in this city. One taxi driver told us the KKK was coming to protest. Another said the Black Panthers were coming and they were going to carry guns, something that is allowed under Ohio’s liberal open-carry laws. He also told us to expect a million – yep, A MILLION! – protesters downtown.
“It’s going to be bad,” he said.
Well, there are still two days left, and anything is possible. But judging by the first two days of the convention, I’m not the least bit worried about protesters.
Most of the time, I’m inside the “secure zone,” a highly fortified area surrounding the Quicken Loans Arena that is controlled by the Secret Service. Every media shuttle I get on has a Secret Service agent onboard, and he is serious about making sure we have the proper credentials – a yellow Secret Service pass and a color-coded, day-of-the-week pass. It’s Tuesday and you don’t have the Tuesday pass, you don’t get it.
The shuttle takes reporters from The Q to the Cleveland Convention Center, which doubles this week as the media headquarters, and it travels on a route protected on both sides by concrete barriers and a 10-foot high fence. And trust me, the Secret Service doesn't play. When someone who wasn't with the media got on the shuttle and began to mouth off at the agent, the shuttle was quickly surrounded by more than a dozen officers who quickly hussled the man off the bus.
The lesson? Don't mess with the Secret Service.
Even when I’ve ventured outside the secure zone, the police presence has been unbelievable. In addition to Cleveland police, there are officers from all over the country here. I met two members of the Georgia State Patrol on the streets yesterday.
And that brings me to the protests. I decided to go check out the “protest zone,” just to get a sense of what it was like. There were multiple protests going on at the same time – I don’t even remember about what – but I assure you there was more media there than protesters – and there certainly were more officers. In fact, at one point, a small skirmish broke out. I say “small” because it only involved a handful of protesters and it lasted only about 30 seconds before a dozen officers broke it up.
So Mom, I’m fine. And you can thank the Secret Service for that.
