JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite protests continuing nationwide and locally in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Mayor Lenny Curry and Sheriff Mike Williams said Friday the city is prepared to keep the Jacksonville safe while hosting the Republican National Convention.
Curry said Jacksonville proved last month that the city has the ability to hold a “smooth, safe, and secure event” by hosting mixed martial arts contests at an empty VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The 15,000-seat capacity center will host the Republican National Convention’s main event the last week of August — President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech — in less than 10 weeks. Police and political conventions, no matter the party affiliation, tend to be magnets for demonstrators and protests.
“Peaceful protest is a right. Here in Jacksonville we honor and respect that right,” Curry said in an early morning news conference after the official announcement confirming that the biggest part of the convention would be held in Jacksonville. “Their voices will be heard at the ballot box. That’s how we do that peacefully in our country.”
Curry said he expects local law enforcement’s ranks will be bolstered by outside agencies and the costs of increased security to be covered by federal and state resources. With a convention, regardless of which party, there is significant funding from the federal government.
“We have cash on hand,” Curry said. “We don’t expect to get to that situation in this event. But we’ve always gotten reimbursed and gotten reimbursed timely.”
“At the state and federal level, we’ll have partnerships and people who come in to help support us to do that,” Williams said an hour later in an interview on The Morning Show. "We have two priorities for this event: Obviously, to keep the event and the people attending safe, and to keep our community safe. Those are not competing priorities. We can do both. That’s the goal as we work toward August.
Asked about a potentially polarizing event coinciding with the 60th anniversary of one of the city’s darkest days of racial violence — Ax Handle Saturday on Aug. 27, 1960 — Curry said we have to acknowledge that.
“It was a terrible time in our city. That is in no way connected to this economic event that will happen in our city,” Curry said.
Curry estimated the convention coming to Jacksonville will provide a $100 million economic impact to the region.
“I believe we’re going to be back in business and have a lot of people in a safe responsible way,” he told reporters Friday morning. “If COVID-19 presents challenges in the weeks ahead as we move into August, that we have to adapt to keep people safe, we will put the safety of people first based on the information and data that I see now. I expect that this event is going to demonstrate that Jacksonville is back in business.”
Curry and Williams said the city has a lot of work to do in a short period of time to be ready to accommodate 50,000 people.
“Everybody involved in this event recognizes the timetable,” Williams said. “Nobody believes that we’re going to have the same type of event that you have when you have a year and a half to plan for it. All those things are on the table as we work to plan toward August.”
UNCUT: Curry’s morning news conference |
The GOP’s selection of Jacksonville highlights the importance of Florida, a battleground state with a history of razor-thin elections, in Trump’s effort to secure a second term. Both parties consider a Sunshine State win crucial for a White House victory in November.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close ally of Trump, had pushed GOP leaders to relocate the RNC to Florida, hoping to jumpstart the state’s economy following widespread closures prompted by the highly contagious coronavirus.
Curry said the convention will aid small businesses in need of help following the shutdowns.
While other conventions have required the closing of streets in the blocks surrounding the event, Curry said he doesn’t expect the majority of downtown to be off-limits.
“While we haven’t laid that perimeter out yet, the way our downtown is laid out … it looks that we will be more likely be able to create a security perimeter that allows most of our downtown businesses to operate and have a positive impact from this event,” he said.
In a press release Thursday night, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo expressed concern about the safety of attendees, accusing Trump of having “abandoned North Carolina because he wants it to look like the threat of the coronavirus is over” when he gives his acceptance speech.
Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, North Carolina’s governor told the Republican Party he couldn’t allow a large-scale event that couldn’t ensure social distancing and other precautions.
The convention is expected to start with around 336 delegates meeting in Charlotte on Aug. 24 before heading to northeast Florida, where they are to meet up with more than 2,000 other delegates for three days of speeches and other activities.
Thousands more support personnel and media are also expected in Jacksonville, not to mention an unknown number of protesters trying to make a statement on a national stage.
Williams said the Sheriff’s Office has had a lot of success in working with organizers and weeding out potential instigators at protests over the years.
“I think we have to ... be very clear about it with the community and the protesters. You can’t allow people to break the law and then not break the law. Those events quickly get out of control and create a dangerous situation for everybody in the community. It’s not a peaceful protest once the rock is thrown, the fire is lit. At that point, there’s no controlling the group. Obviously, the group would have no control over itself, so that’s where the posture changes. It’s like that in most cities around the country. It has to be.”