Dave Ross discovers just how laid back the Republican National Convention is
Jul 18, 2016, 5:36 AM | Updated: 1:28 pm
Making America safe is the theme of the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
I can tell you the city of Cleveland has certainly done all it can to make downtown Cleveland safe again, including a maze of barricades and fences, hydraulic vehicle stoppers, and cops from all over the country, including Lt. Taylor Cooper and his crowd control specialists from the California Highway Patrol.
Related: Follow KIRO Radio to the Republican National Convention
Cooper is assigned to what they call the outer perimeter. You have an inner perimeter surrounding the Quicken Loans Arena where the convention takes place, and then you have the outer perimeter which is where tennis balls and water pistols are prohibited, but where under Ohio’s open-carry law, you can carry an AR-15.
I know some people think that’s crazy, but Lt. Cooper says the law is the law.
“We don’t want people pointing guns at people,” he explained to me.
If he saw someone carrying a gun, he says he would talk to them and ask them, “how are you doing?”
And the atmosphere I have to say was pretty laid back. Like one fellow who was wearing his Make America Great Again hat and yet not at all fitting the stereotype.
“Hillary is going to make Donald Trump look bad,” he said.
I asked him why he was wearing the hat.
“I like Republicans. Republican girls are wonderful,” he explained.
I wondered what that had to do with Trump.
“Nothing,” he answered.
Why not? Make America Date Again.
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