Jacksonville Sheriff expressing ‘significant’ concerns ahead of Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention set to take place in Jacksonville in August is facing new issues.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams released the following statement to the media on Monday, raising concerns about being able to secure the event and keep the community safe:

“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. It is my sole responsibility to provide safety and security for our city and more importantly for the citizens who I serve. So, with a growing list of challenges, be it financial, with communication, the timeline, I can not say with confidence that this event or our community will not be at risk.

So, we knew some months back that this effort was going to be a huge lift. Our teams were up to the challenge and met every obstacle with creative problem-solving and an unwavering commitment to meet the mission. With a timetable that was aggressive to say the least, the communication required to make the critical steps come together just never really seemed to gel and still has not today. So, my team identified key resources, for example, in terms of manpower, and I can confirm to date that we’ve only been able to pull together about 25% of what we requested. Some of this is due to concerns over reimbursement, while additional issues are related to the pandemic that we’re facing today.

So, let me close with this. I have a deep appreciation for the men and women of JSO who have stepped up to do everything that has been asked of them. Additionally, I want to thank our state and federal partners and others who have been working diligently with the team to prepare for this major event. Every effort has been made, countless hours spent, and all have been committed to meet the mission to keep our city safe. And at this point, we’re simply past the point of no return to execute the event safely, again with the safety and security that is our obligation for this community,” says Williams.

Williams says he has been in a lot of communication with Mayor Lenny Curry in the last several weeks related to the resource issues and financial issues ahead of the convention. Curry’s office released a statement to our partner Action News Jax in regards to the announcement:

“From the onset of this process the Mayor and our administration have remained in constant communication with JSO, State and Federal law enforcement on providing safety and security for our City. 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,” says Jordan Elsbury, Chief of Staff for Mayor Lenny Curry.

However, Williams says at this point in the process with the convention a little over a month away, they should be fine-tuning the plans for this event. Instead, he says they really don’t have a solid plan as of yet.

When asked if the Republican National Convention should be canceled in Jacksonville, Williams said that the bits and pieces of the current plan is not something that he can personally support. He says it is possible a different plan could be presented.

Cox Media Group