Jacksonville ‘past point of no return’ to safely host Trump’s convention, sheriff says
The 11th-hour decision to move most of the Republican National Convention from North Carolina to Jacksonville — and the inability to nail down plans and funding amid Florida’s coronavirus outbreak — has pushed efforts to safely police the event “past the point of no return,” Sheriff Mike Williams said Monday.
“With less than 40 days until the expected Republican National Convention is slated to arrive in Jacksonville, I am compelled to express my significant concerns with the viability of this event,” Williams, the Duval County sheriff, said in a statement. “At this point, we are simply past the point of no return to execute the event with safety and security that is our obligation.”
The Republican sheriff’s words may represent the most serious challenge yet to President Donald Trump’s efforts to deliver his acceptance speech for his party’s nomination in front of thousands of supporters.
Trump and the Republican National Committee chose more than a month ago to move the convention festivities to Florida after Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper refused to promise a “full-fledged” convention in Charlotte, where Trump had planned to address a packed Spectrum Center. The 2020 Jacksonville Host Committee initially announced plans to focus the convention around the 15,000-seat VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, located downtown.
But in Republican-led Florida — and Republican-led Jacksonville — state regulations currently limit entertainment venues to 50% capacity, and the city has ordered that masks be worn indoors in public places to prevent the increased spread of COVID-19.
All of that contributed to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s decision last week to limit attendance to Trump’s speech to about 7,500 delegates and guests. And that was before Jacksonville’s Republican sheriff warned that a lack of clarity and a paucity of resources have made it all but impossible to safely police the party’s gatherings.
“With a growing list of challenges — be it finances, communication and timeline — I cannot say with confidence that this event and our community will not be at risk,” said Williams, noting that most conventions are held following 18 months of planning. “With a timetable that was aggressive to say the least, the communication required to make the critical steps come together just never seemed to gel. And still has not.”
Williams stressed during a Monday press conference with Jacksonville reporters that he is not in a position to call off the convention, nor would he refuse to police the Aug. 24-27 event if the RNC chooses to move forward with the event. But he said he has yet to sign a single contract related to the convention, and has been warning in meetings for weeks that the plan to host the convention — expected to draw protesters as well as party activists — is inadequate and underdeveloped.
“If I were them, I’d start thinking about going virtual, or scaling down even more than they’ve done,” Jacksonville City Council President Thomas Hazouri said in an interview. “They need to have a plan A, B, C, D and E.”
Mandi Merritt, an RNC spokeswoman, said the organization remains confident that Jacksonville can host the event safely.
“The RNC continues to work closely with local leadership in Jacksonville on planning for the convention, including on health and security measures, and the Department of Justice is in the process of allocating millions of dollars in a safety grant,” Merritt said. “Jacksonville has accommodated upwards of 70,000 people for football games and other events, and we are confident in state, local and federal officials to be able to ensure a safe event for our attendees.”
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who is also co-chairman of the host committee, remains in contact with Williams, state and federal law enforcement regarding security for the convention, according to his chief of staff, Jordan Elsbury. Curry said last week that “tens of millions” of dollars had been privately raised for the city’s convention.
“Over the next few days, we will continue to meet with Sheriff Mike Williams and his team on how to prioritize public safety related to this event,” Elsbury said.
Still, Williams’ concerns are only the latest sign of local resistance to the hastily arranged, slow-to-develop plan put together by the RNC and the host committee.
In a July 15 email obtained by the Herald, the city’s chief administrative officer acknowledged to Hazouri that the company that manages the city-owned venues downtown was still negotiating facility use agreements with the RNC and host committee. Hazouri also said the city administration had yet to work with a member of the council to file legislation needed to accept a federal Department of Justice security grant — worth between $30 million and $40 million — that the city says will fund the entirety of the city’s policing bill.
Hazouri said he expects Curry’s administration to file the legislation Tuesday. He said the council plans to hold a Friday workshop to go through questions about the legislation, followed by the council’s regularly scheduled meeting next week on Tuesday, when the convention legislation would be taken up as an emergency item requiring a vote of approval with the support of two-thirds of the 19-member council.
A Justice spokeswoman declined to comment Monday about the grant.
Williams told reporters Monday that some of the grant had already been spent in Charlotte, where convention business will still be handled before the festivities move to Jacksonville. Another issue causing him concern: an effort by the Florida Sheriff’s Association to secure 2,000 deputies from agencies around the state has only netted about 500, according to Politico.
“My team identified the key resources critical to this plan and, to date, I can only confirm that 25% of the ask has been answered,” Williams said. “Some of this is due to concerns for reimbursement, while additional issues are related to the pandemic we are still facing.”
Williams left the door slightly open that his agency could still safely host the event during a press conference Monday with Jacksonville reporters. He said he had shared his concerns with Curry and said the mayor understood.
McClatchyDC reporter Francesca Chambers contributed to this article.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
