Syringes were added to the list of banned items at the Republican National Convention after there were several reports of people pricking police officers outside the convention.
Though the Cleveland police say they have not yet confirmed reports of anyone stabbing officers with needles, if people are spotted with syringes, they will be confiscated on a case-by-case basis — excluding those with medical conditions — as a cautionary measure.
South Carolina officers reported that members of the crowd warned them that someone was trying to stick officers with needles.
The reports first sprang up on social media and through unconfirmed chatter heard on the police scanner.
Around the same time, unconfirmed reports of officers being tagged with drug-laced stickers began to bubble up. Cleveland police indicated that two troopers were transported to MetroHealth for an unknown illness, but they do not believe it is related to the stickers.
A man carrying the stickers was was apprehended and questioned by the FBI. The stickers were sent to a lab for analysis. Authorities planned to charge the offender with assaulting a police officer.
