Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and other Democrat leaders are opposing a call from Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, to deploy the National Guard to the city.
Instead, Bibb said this week, he is seeking more federal dollars to expand the police force.
In an opinion piece published Monday by The Washington Times, Miller urged Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, to deploy the National Guard to Cleveland, citing rising violence and saying “boots on the ground” are needed to restore public confidence.
“My constituents in the suburbs are afraid to go into the city,” Miller wrote. “The Cleveland I grew up in is now unrecognizable. Families no longer feel safe walking down the street, and small businesses are being boarded up.”
Bibb pushed back.
“I have a lot of respect for Congressman Miller. He’s been very supportive of my vision as mayor … but this is an area where I disagree with the congressman. We don’t need the National Guard in Cleveland,” Bibb said in a Wednesday appearance on the “Right Now With Perry Bacon” podcast.
Bibb cited a recent special operation with the U.S. Marshals that resulted in taking 130 “violent criminals off the street” as proof he’ll do what’s necessary to keep Cleveland safe.
“The National Guard ain’t the solution. We need more money to hire more police. We need more money to get illegal guns off our streets. … That’s where the federal government can be more supportive right in America’s cities, not with deploying the National Guard,” he said.
A spokesperson for DeWine said that because Ohio is a home-rule state, mayors request the National Guard, an affirmation Bibb said DeWine gave him in a phone call, The Hill reported. Bibb said DeWine would not deploy the Guard without his “express approval.”
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, also brushed aside Miller’s call for the Guard, calling it “unnecessary” and “unserious.”
Michael Deemer, president and CEO of the nonprofit Downtown Cleveland, responded to Miller’s call in a statement posted on X: “Downtown Cleveland is unrecognizable — in the best way.”
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