TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) – At the stadium and behind the scenes, security officials in Tampa are bracing for a daunting range of potential threats to the Super Bowl this year, from COVID-19 and domestic terror attacks to unruly crowds cheering on their home team.
The National Football League championship, which requires security coordination from some 70 local, state and federal agencies, will be played under unprecedented threat conditions with a national domestic terrorism advisory in place following the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6 and the COVID-19 pandemic raging. It will also be the first Super Bowl matchup featuring a team – the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – on its home turf.
Officials have been planning the event’s security for a year, according to FBI Special-Agent-in-Charge Michael McPherson, but recent political and public health crises and the cancellation of Super Bowl week events have caused the massive operation to adapt to a shifting threat picture.
Super Bowl LV is classified as a SEAR-1 event by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), meaning it receives the highest level of federal resources, including explosive detection canine teams, cyber risk assessments and air security.
The FBI Tampa field office, led by McPherson, will be hosting more than a dozen agencies at an intelligence operation center where agents will collect, analyze and disseminate intelligence related to the Super Bowl and communicate with other units around the country.
Fresh on their minds is an advisory issued by the DHS last week, which warned of the persistent threat of domestic terror attacks in the U.S. by “violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition.”
Like all FBI offices, McPherson’s Tampa office has been charged with chasing leads on subjects who may have been involved in the Jan. 6 attack. The agency may increase its surveillance of any local subjects leading up to the game, even if they do not pose an apparent threat to the Super Bowl, McPherson said.
“We saw what happened in DC and if someone might want to make a political statement… it’s something we would be thinking about,” he said.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials, on horseback, in golf carts, and with canine units, will be posted on the grounds of the Raymond James stadium and the Tampa Riverwalk, where the game and other lead-up events will take place this week, said Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan.
Those officers and their partners behind the scenes will be prepared for potentially violent political demonstrations in the wake of the DHS’ warning.
“We are planning for any type of demonstration, doesn’t matter what their message is,” Dugan said.
HOME TURF
Due to COVID-19, many events leading up to the game have been pared down or made virtual and the stadium will only hold 22,000 attendees, a third of its capacity.
These measures have eased the burden slightly on law enforcement officers, who now have fewer physical venues to secure.
But with fewer planned events, and the enthusiasm of a hometown crowd, officials are expecting they will need to monitor spontaneous, local gatherings that could draw energized masses – especially if the Bucs are victorious.
“When we realized the Buccaneers were going to be in it, we started thinking about how else do we have to adjust our footprint,” McPherson said.
In Dugan’s view, the most prominent security concern “is crowd control”.
With thousands of security officials, athletes and fans congregating comes another underlying, but hardly overlooked threat: the contagious virus that has so far killed more than 430,000 Americans.
“One of my greater concerns about this is making sure we have healthy people to execute the plan,” McPherson said, adding that he was urging his officers to follow health protocols so the virus cannot “hinder operations”.
While the mayor of Tampa has mandated mask-wearing around the stadium during Super Bowl week, Chief Dugan, who recovered from his own bout of COVID-19 last week, said he did not anticipate his officers would enforce COVID-19 measures besides reminding people to social distance.
“We really don’t want to get into being the mask police,” he said. “We’re just going to rely on people being responsible citizens.”
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
