Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb attended the Ohio State homecoming football game in Columbus with his city security detail in tow, traveling there in a city vehicle while he was not conducting city business. The detail, paid for with taxpayer money, accompanied Bibb into a stadium that draws roughly 100,000 fans for Buckeyes games, and his office is declining to say how many officers made the trip.
The findings come from an investigation by the FOX 8 I-Team, which confirmed that Bibb brought along his city security detail, paid for with public funds, and traveled to Columbus with security in a city car. When I-Team reporters approached to ask questions, Bibb did not roll down the window or step out to answer them before his driver pulled away, and a member of his security detail offered only a terse “no, no questions” when pressed.
Mayor's Office Defends the Detail, Withholds the Numbers
City spokesman Tyler Sinclair said the mayor's office would not disclose how many officers accompanied Bibb, arguing that doing so would compromise safety. Sinclair told the I-Team that Bibb has received various forms of hate mail and multiple threats via social media suggesting his safety could be at risk, and said political violence is a real threat that the city is unwilling to gamble with when it comes to the mayor's protection.
Sinclair said all instances involving the mayor's detail are evaluated on a case-by-case basis ahead of time, and he pushed back on the idea that Bibb shouldn't be able to attend a game like any other elected official who travels with security. The mayor's office also said no taxpayer money was spent on Bibb's own game ticket, and that the officers accompanying him did not have to pay for tickets because they were present in a security capacity rather than as spectators. City Hall withheld other details about the trip, also citing safety concerns. Columbus's mayor's office told the I-Team it does not comment on security matters.
A Cleveland Grandmother Pushes Back
Not everyone in Cleveland is satisfied with that explanation. Sandra Hudson, who has lost a grandson to violence and showed the I-Team home security camera footage of thieves breaking into cars in her neighborhood, said using city security for what she sees as the mayor's personal outing is not right. Hudson said Bibb is entitled to enjoy his life, but argued he shouldn't be using taxpayer dollars for personal entertainment while residents like her deal with crime on their own block.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Travel With Security
This is not the first time the I-Team has scrutinized Bibb's security arrangements while traveling. The outlet previously examined a trip Bibb took to a conference in Martha's Vineyard, where he brought two Cleveland police officers for protection at an economic forum. Reported costs for that trip have varied: the I-Team found that expenses for Bibb and the two officers over six days totaled $50,825.62, including about $35,000 attributed specifically to the mayor's security, while Signal Cleveland separately reported that sending Bibb and two members of his police detail to Massachusetts cost Cleveland taxpayers more than $46,000.
Signal Cleveland's reporting also found that Bibb has traveled to about 50 out-of-state destinations since the start of his first term in 2022. A separate review by News 5 Cleveland found that records showed Bibb had security with him on every documented trip that year, typically two officers and sometimes one, as part of 14 out-of-state trips by Bibb and his entourage that cost taxpayers nearly $70,000 in 2022 alone, not counting overtime for the officers assigned to protect him. Security expert Tim Dimoff told the outlet that executive protection is generally warranted when a mayor travels outside the state, though he criticized instances where security officers were stationed several blocks away from the official they were supposed to be protecting.
The I-Team's past reporting also noted that Bibb's security detail has sometimes logged substantial overtime and rented vehicles for weekend conferences, with some rentals running over $1,000. By contrast, officials in Columbus, Akron and other Ohio cities told the I-Team that their own mayors travel out of town without bringing police officers along.
For now, the exact size and cost of the detail that traveled to Columbus for the homecoming game remains unknown, with city officials citing safety as the reason for keeping those specifics under wraps.
