Cleveland is spending $20 million on riot and security gear for the Republican convention

VOX  . . . "The Republican convention might have an especially contentious atmosphere

Groups protesting the Republican Party are expected to show up, much as they have at every RNC. However, this year's inflammatory campaign rhetoric and a potentially rare contested convention could make for bigger and more violent protests than in recent years.

Already during primaries this year, violent protests have broken out at campaign stops across the country, most notably at rallies for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

. . . "The Cleveland Police Department is currently under Justice Department oversight after a 2013 DOJ probe revealed numerous problems, including unnecessary and violent confrontations with citizens.

" 'They will be facing one of the most complex incidents that they will ever face," Jonathan Smith, a former Justice Department lawyer who supervised the investigation into Cleveland, told the Marshall Project in reference to the convention. "You would want a department that has systems that are in place where there is better accountability and better supervision."

" 'I’m really concerned all hell is going to break loose," James L. Hardiman, a vice president of the Cleveland NAACP, told the Los Angeles Times. "The big concern is injury to people, damage to property, indiscriminate arrest. The people who actually live here — what are we going to be left with at the end of the day? ' "