Donald Trump campaign pooh-poohs RNC security concerns

It is business as usual for Donald Trump.

Representatives from the Donald Trump campaign talked Republican National Convention security Tuesday, largely dismissing deep concerns from the host city’s Republican sheriff.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said Monday that he wanted to put the brakes on the convention next month, as the city is “past the point of no return” in terms of planning security logistics for the event.

Williams’ concerns were discounted by Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Trump campaign, Tuesday afternoon on CNN with host Brianna Keilar.

“It’s Jacksonville, it’s where it’s going to be,” Murtaugh said, expressing confidence in the event’s safety.

“Law enforcement in Jacksonville will have access to some $30 million of federal law enforcement funds to use there,” Murtaugh said.

Murtaugh said the Trump campaign has been “working with people on the ground since the beginning.”

The campaign spokesperson said Jacksonville “has a lot of experience putting on large scale events,” such as Jacksonville Jaguars games.

“An NFL football game crowd is a lot larger crowd,” Murtaugh said, than the President’s renomination.

Williams’ own undersheriff stressed Tuesday the vast difference in those events, giving little indication that the Trump campaign had convinced them otherwise.

Undersheriff Pat Ivey said JSO has roughly 25% of what is needed, including help from other sheriff’s offices and police agencies throughout the state.

“The challenge is timeline,” Ivey said, with the planning for previous conventions taking years. He called the current planning a “timeline which no one has ever had to deal with.”

Ivey noted particular concerns, including venue uncertainty, social distancing challenges, and other personnel challenges requiring “thousands” of outside law enforcement coming in.

Mayor Lenny Curry, the co-chair of the convention itself, is likewise aware of JSO’s concerns but offered no particular plan to redress them Tuesday.

The Mayor said it was a “top priority to work with the Sheriff and his team and law enforcement partners,” adding that he “said he was getting close to a point that if he didn’t have what he needed he’d have to communicate that.”

The goal going forward is to work to allay those concerns, Curry added.

“Everybody involved in this understands the Sheriff’s concerns and is working to address them.”