CLEVELAND — 3News has learned that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration is holding an “after incident review” tomorrow morning to discuss how the city responded to the May 30 protest and riot. The meeting at Windows on the River in the Flats is closed to the public.
Jackson and Police Chief Calvin Williams have said publicly they planned to hold the meeting as soon as key supervisors were available to discuss the city’s response, which has drawn criticism for the widespread rioting and looting in the central business district that followed demonstrations earlier in the day.
Asked by council members last week why the city didn’t seem ready for rioters, Williams said police prepared for what they believed would be a largely peaceful demonstration.
“A lot of bike officers were in Class B uniforms, that our normal uniforms of the day,” he said. “We weren’t in helmets and shields and protective gear because that is how the rally was billed from the beginning. That was our response from the beginning. We were not there to antagonize people, but we did have officers in protective gear that were not seen and ready to respond.”
Jackson has said he has his theory of what happened that day but planned to wait to hear from police supervisors before publicly discussing what lessons the city could take from the day.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the police,” Jackson told 3News during a recent teleconference.
Jackson’s also said during a separate interview that he personally would not have changed how he approached the day.
"I wouldn't do anything different," Jackson told 3News anchor and Executive Editor Russ Mitchell. "I'd do exactly what I did: I'd go down to the command center and I would do my proper role...to provide support for law enforcement, as we did in the aftermath of what happened that Saturday night."
Jackson has promised to eventually make the review public.
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