The city of Cleveland, Ohio, approved the purchase of a $50 million liability insurance policy Wednesday in a move to protect the city from protests and potential terrorist attacks during the Republican National Convention in July.
The Board of Control will pay $9.5 million outright for the policy. The city had taken out $10 million of insurance in March, but a second look at the current state of domestic and foreign affairs by a consultant group determined the threat had grown substantially, according to the Associated Press.
“Given the climate nationally and internationally, the risk assessment (for Cleveland) was higher than it’s been for other conventions,” Cleveland Finance Director Sharon Dumas told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Cleveland will be partially reimbursed by federal grant money that was given to the city when it was named the GOP convention host city. The $50 million policy would go toward damage to city property and claims against police officers.
The Democrats’ Philadelphia convention is in the midst of taking out a smaller insurance policy.
