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Cleveland Police Twitter: No Shots Fired At Cops Or Transport Vehicle At RNC — But 2 Men Being Watched [Breaking]

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 05:23 PST, Jul 19, 2016

There are rumors that broke on Twitter that there were shots fired at police near the RNC in Cleveland. Initial tweets on Twitter from Reuters Top News (@Reuters) stated that there were shots fired in Cleveland at police. The tweet caused lots of retweets among other people and news organizations on Twitter.

“BREAKING: Shots fired at Cleveland police transport vehicle near site of Republican National Convention, no injuries: police #RNCinCLE”

However, the initial reports that shots had been fired at police in Cleveland are now being denied by the Cleveland Police Department.

According to the verified Cleveland Police Twitter account @CLEpolice, which is listed as the official Twitter page of the Division of Police out of Cleveland, Ohio, there were no shots fired at a police transport vehicle.

“No shots fired on transport vehicle.”

Accordingly, Reuters updated their initial tweet in the comments section to reflect the fact that no shots were fired at Cleveland police, according to the Cleveland Police Department’s tweet.

As reported by Reuters, the confusion about police being shot at or not near the Republican National Convention on Tuesday stemmed from reports that gunshots were heard near a police vehicle. The publication quoted police sources as saying that the gunshots could be heard nearby the police vehicle, but the tweet from the publication used the language that gunshots were fired at a Cleveland police vehicle, which made it seem as though Cleveland police were under fire from gunshots.

With no injuries to police or civilians being reported, there were also no comments from the head of security at the RNC’s law enforcement command center. With so many recent reports of gun violence from and against the police in recent weeks, news about possible gunfire in Cleveland would set the RNC events on edge at a time when so many politicos are in Cleveland.

However, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams explained to reporters that a big city like Cleveland would necessitate getting reports about hearing gunshots.

“In a dense urban area you get reports of things like that happening.”

With plenty of guns being carried by people attending rallies outside of the RNC — such as the guns seen on supporters wearing “Hillary for Prison 2016” T-shirts and other pro-Trump fare in the below photo — the tension is ripe for reports of gunshots. That photo was taken on Monday, July 18, in Cleveland.

Guns in Cleveland [Photo by Patrick Semansky/AP Images]
Therefore, the gunshots reportedly heard in Cleveland could have happened at a distance from the police vehicle, perhaps only heard by cops — and not have represented gunshots that were actually fired directly at Cleveland police officers, as was first believed on Twitter.

In the top photo above, protesters can be seen on Sunday, July 17 in Cleveland, as they marched near a Cleveland police officer before the start of the Republican National Convention.

A search for information about Cleveland police reveals a variety of reactions to the initial reports that shots were fired at Cleveland cops. Despite the fact that the initial reports of shots being fired at police in Cleveland are being called erroneous, according to the Twitter account , the police in Cleveland are monitoring two men carrying rifles in Cleveland’s famous Public Square.

“[Cleveland police] scanner – Two men with rifles are currently being monitored in Public Square. “

Outside of Cleveland, news about Donald Trump and gun control continues, such as the anti-NRA puppet of Trump seen in the below photo from Monday, July 18. That photo was taken in New York.

Guns and Donald Trump [Photo by Bebeto Matthews/AP Images]
Meanwhile, police in Cleveland are using bicycles to monitor the RNC crowds as well as police vehicles.

[Photo by John Minchillo/AP Images]

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