There’s a new security concern surrounding the RNC after a woman said she got inside a restricted event by using a security credential meant for someone else.
The Parma woman, whose name newsnet5.com has decided to conceal, said she traveled downtown in a t-shirt that read “Free Hugs” in an effort to thank police officers.
She said a friend from church handed her his security credential in order for her to gain access to a restricted space.
“My friend, we’re from the same church, has a pass to come in here, but he has to go pick up a delegate, so that’s why I’m dressed like this, I’m going in for like two hours, so I’m going to go back out and let him back in,” the woman said.
While her intentions may have been innocent, the account posed security concerns.
Newsnet5.com’s Derick Waller asked Cleveland Division of Police Sergeant Jennifer Ciaccia if there were mechanisms in place to stop people from swapping credentials.
“There are a lot of security layers in place to stop that kind of thing,” Sgt. Ciaccia said, “But the monitoring of the secure zone is actually done by the United States Secret Service.”
There’s been intense security all week at the Quicken Loans Arena, the sight of the convention. On Thursday, our camera captured a swarm of agents standing by outside the metal barriers on Prospect Avenue. Right inside, police walked the perimeter, and further in side our camera spotted plain clothes security agents on the convention floor and walking interior corridors.
Police said they did not have issues with protestors gaining access to secure spaces by using someone else’s credentials and called the possibility “low risk."
