Threats from anarchists have Tampa on lockdown ahead of convention

The city’s police department has bulked up its bike and horse units with a $50-million federal grant, adding more than a dozen all-terrain vehicles to speedily navigate Tampa’s streets if protests get out of control with roving mobs, as they have at previous conventions.

In an effort to extend a visual olive branch, police purchased more neutral-looking khaki uniforms for the roughly 1,000 officers expected to be on duty throughout the week, in hopes that they will appear more approachable and less threatening to demonstrators. Thousands of police from surrounding cities and counties are expected to bolster the local department’s ranks.

Federal officials have shut down a major nearby highway and positioned floating steel-cable barriers in the harbor to stop potential terrorists from launching an attack from the water. Air and water security zones and traffic restrictions have also been put into place, as an armored truck stands at the ready along with the regional bomb squad.