Leaders Roll Out Convention Red Carpet

Literally rolling out the red carpet Thursday, Mayor Riordan and assorted civic leaders welcomed attendees of next week’s Democratic Convention, promising them a fun time and a world-class city that is, in Riordan’s words, “ready to shine in the world’s spotlight.”

“We will show people why Los Angeles is the capital city of the 21st century,” Riordan said at a formal welcoming ceremony outside Staples Center downtown, the site of the convention.

“We will show them the best beaches, the best mountains, the best weather, museums and musicians, the best restaurants, the best theaters,” said Riordan. “But most of all, we will show them the most diverse and most beautiful people in the world--Angelenos.”

“Los Angeles,” the mayor said, “has never looked better.”

With that, Riordan, Democratic National Convention Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, L.A. Convention 2000 chief Noelia Rodriguez and others unrolled a red carpet about as wide as a tennis court at the main doors of Staples Center.

Beginning Monday, that plush welcome mat will be trampled by tens of thousands of delegates, media representatives and others throughout the four-day event.

Although Riordan and other speakers avoided the subject in their prepared speeches, Staples Center President Tim Leiweke raised the issue of potentially violent demonstrators--and urged conventioneers to ignore them.

“We’re looking forward to the protesters,” said Leiweke, adding that he expects the vast majority of them to be peaceful.

“We have 200 people who want to disrupt this convention,” Leiweke added. “They want the spotlight. Don’t give it to them, pure and simple.”

Speaking to the protesters, Leiweke said: “I want them to know we won’t back down. We won’t shutter our windows and close for business.”

But that doesn’t mean convention organizers have eased up on security. As Leiweke spoke, workers were putting the final touches on concrete barricades around the convention site to cordon off officially approved protest zones and contain potential rabble-rousers.

Other workers spent the morning cutting down saplings around Staples Center, saying they don’t want protesters to use them as weapons. Workers also removed some shrubs and landscaping that could be set on fire.

Those precautions were taken amid speculation about whether demonstrators will get out of hand, as they did in Seattle at the World Trade Organization talks last year and at Staples Center after the Lakers’ championship victory in June.

In recent days, many merchants in the downtown jewelry district and elsewhere said they are scared enough about potential trouble to take precautionary measures and even shut down.

After the event, Riordan spoke to reporters and downplayed the potential for violence. He criticized news media outlets--particularly The Times--as fixating on what he said is a small group of about 200 organized troublemakers. That number, he said, “is based on what we saw in Seattle.”

“If they don’t like Los Angeles,” Riordan said of The Times, “they should move to another city.”

As for the protesters, Riordan reiterated that the city will respond aggressively and quickly to any signs of unlawful activity.

Riordan said the Los Angeles Police Department, federal law enforcement agencies and the county Sheriff’s Department will be ready to deal with any outbreaks of violence. “If they want to cause trouble in our city, we’re ready for them,” Riordan said.

“We’re not going to let 200 criminally minded people ruin this convention,” the mayor said. “It’s going to be a wonderful, happy time.”

Lisa Fithian, an organizer with the D2K Network umbrella protest group, said that if a small number of people resort to violence, it is the police’s duty to deal with them appropriately.

Fithian stressed that protest groups have guidelines against violence and vandalism, and are training in nonviolent techniques.

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Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.