WASHINGTON (AP) – Senior U.S. national security officials say they are worried about the potential for violence at the Republican National Convention to be held in Cleveland next week.
“I am concerned about the prospect of demonstrations getting out of hand, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said during congressional testimony Thursday.
”I am concerned about the possibility of violence,” he told the House Homeland Security Committee.
Johnson says he will be inspecting the security around the convention hall during a visit Friday. He says he says similar concerns about the Democratic convention to be held in Philadelphia and will visit that site next week.
Johnson says there will be 4,000 U.S. government security personnel in Cleveland, in addition to local and state authorities.
FBI Director James Comey says anytime there is a large, national event there is concern that radical people and groups may be drawn to it.
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The struggle by conservatives for an eleventh-hour derailment of Donald Trump’s drive to the Republican presidential nominee is gasping for breath after a committee at the convention resoundingly rejected their push to let delegates support the candidate of their choice.
The convention’s rules committee, dominated by Trump backers and top national and state GOP officials, used a voice vote late Thursday to reject the proposal, a result that was expected.
A series of related votes underscored the 112-member panel’s one-sided opposition to the conservatives’ drive, and it appeared uncertain whether its backers could gather enough support to force the full convention to revisit the proposal when it convenes Monday. Foes said they believed the movement was essentially finished.