As the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee enters the final hours of its four-day official run, the city’s top elected official expressed confidence Thursday morning that it will be a harbinger of other large-scale events to come.
“Milwaukee has accomplished one of my top goals: We demonstrated our city’s capacity to host a major and a massive event,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at an early morning press conference outside City Hall. “That’s important to the tens of thousands of visitors, and it’s important to the future of our hospitality industry right here in Milwaukee.”
The city is hoping to use the success in carrying out the RNC to attract major conventions, sporting and entertainment events, and large-scale meetings, Johnson said.
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“It translates into jobs and opportunities for Milwaukee residents and growth for businesses here in the city,” he said. “As I have said from the beginning, the RNC is not the end, it’s the beginning. It’s the beginning of other large-scale events coming to Milwaukee. This put the city on the map.”
The RNC was projected to generate $200 million in economic impact and attract 50,000 visitors, including 15,000 media members. “We’ll look to see what those numbers look like,” Johnson said.
Extensive media coverage of the RNC will have long-term benefits, he added. “After this four-day commercial and having images of the city of Milwaukee beamed into C-suites and living rooms, not just across the United States but really around the world, I think we are likely to see another uptick in interest in coming to Milwaukee, which I think is great.”
At the same time, Johnson once again acknowledged complaints raised by operators of some Downtown restaurants, bars and other businesses who have struggled to attract customers during the RNC. “I know that there are some businesses, especially nearby, that hadn’t seen the uptick that they initially were expecting,” Johnson said.
Johnson doled out praise for all those involved in planning and carrying out the RNC.
“The city’s preparation and performance has gone pretty smoothly and our role as host of the Republican National Convention is something that I think we all should be proud of,” he said. “I’m appreciative of the people who have worked so diligently to showcase Milwaukee in the best light. Thousands and thousands of volunteers have been a friendly core of guides and problem solvers. City workers and the Department of Public Works, the Department of Neighborhood Services, the Health Department, the Office of Community Wellness and Safety, along with people in all the departments, they’ve done such a great job and I thank them for all their work. And those that have worked long shifts in our public safety departments, they carried out a plan that was many months in the making and they fulfilled their roles and they’ve done it with distinction. So many others from across the country have been here to lend a hand and I sincerely thank them, too.”
Johnson also expressed gratitude to those who live in and around the city.
“Milwaukee residents have been friendly and have been welcoming, and for those who were inconvenienced by some of the security precautions and some of the traffic disruptions, I appreciate your patience,” he said.
The day and night on Wednesday again was relatively uneventful for law enforcement, Johnson said.
A pair of incidents near the convention led to seven arrests, with both taking place east of the river just outside the security perimeter. “Two people were arrested for fighting in the first situation. The second incident involved disorderly behavior outside a bar that ultimately led to five arrests,” Johnson said.
The there was also one arrest directly related to the convention involving a suspect who was taken into custody for allegedly stealing RNC tickets and then attempting to sell them.
The most serious RNC-related arrest known so far came Monday, when a 21-year-old Milwaukee man carrying an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask was arrested on North 11th Street, near an RNC security checkpoint.
At Thursday’s press conference the mayor did not address the fatal shooting of a Milwaukee man by Columbus, Ohio, police near King Park on Tuesday.
It was also another peaceful day involving protest activity, he said. “At our designated demonstration areas, we hosted a few more individuals than we have in the past couple of days, and for the first time additional people showed up looking for permission to speak at the podiums. Those individuals were accommodated,” Johnson said.
Protests have been carried out throughout the week with very few arrests.
“I want to give a lot of credit to the Milwaukee Police Department, the Secret Service and all of our partners. They have actively engaged with folks who have sought to demonstrate here in Milwaukee, making the process easy,” he said. “Our administration understands it’s important for people to exercise their First Amendment rights. We set those zones up for that purpose. We made it easy and for them to have space to interact with people who had opposing views. I think it made the process smooth.”
Johnson concluded a series of daily early morning briefings with reporters throughout the run of the convention.
“It’s been a pretty remarkable week and I think it’s fair to say that Milwaukee has shown our visitors that the city is full of great assets and also great people,” Johnson said. “The conventiongoers that I’ve had a chance to speak to have had some very positive impressions of Milwaukee. A number of them said they planned to come back to visit Milwaukee. That is music to my ears.”
