Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson addressed public safety concerns and expressed support for downtown businesses at a press conference ahead of the Republican National Convention Monday morning.
In the wake of the “horrific” assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, Johnson said at the press conference outside City Hall that he is confident in the work done to ensure public safety in Milwaukee for the RNC, which will be held from today through Thursday, July 18.
“I know that the Secret Service has been monitoring this, and President Joe Biden, of course, has asked the Secret Service to take a further look at what’s happening with the security around the Republican National Convention here in light of what happened (Saturday in Pennsylvania),” Johnson said.
He highlighted the 18 months of preparation that has been done in collaboration with the U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Milwaukee Police Department, Milwaukee Fire Department and other law enforcement agencies “all across the country that are coming here to make sure that this is a safe event for everybody.”
The RNC is a National Special Security Event, which is the highest designation the federal government provides for events like this, Johnson said.
“I feel pretty confident in what we’ve worked to establish in terms of public safety for this event over the course of the last 18 months,” Johnson said.
Sunday night arrests
Johnson said police made two arrests Sunday night around the convention security zone, but he said they were “routine.” Both individuals were intoxicated, he said, and one police officer received minor injuries from one of the arrests.
“The events overnight were described to me as really uneventful,” Johnson said.
He said he hopes people will be peaceful and respect the rights of others so that there will be fewer interactions with police.
Milwaukee businesses ‘open for commerce’
Johnson highlighted the RNC’s economic impact on Milwaukee and invited people in town to visit businesses this week.
He invited visitors, whether connected to the RNC or not, to go to Milwaukee restaurants and buy some sausages from Usinger’s Famous Sausage on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
“Downtown Milwaukee is open for commerce, even though the convention is going on here today,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he hopes Milwaukee hosting the RNC will help attract more conventions and large scale political, business, sports and entertainment events to Milwaukee in the future.
“That will build our tourism business, creating more jobs, creating more economic activity right here in Milwaukee,” Johnson said.
He said it’s important to leave a “positive impression of Milwaukee” at this time.
“My whole goal here is to create a virtuous economic cycle for the people who live here, who work here, who own businesses here in Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “And I think the RNC will open that door across the country, and really around the world, for people to see Milwaukee as a place to bring that sort of business.”
