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- Capitol Police have offered to beef up Cruz's security detail after angry confrontations on the floor of the GOP convention Wednesday night
- Cruz was flanked by two presidential-style security personnel as he addressed furious state delegates from Texas
- The guards scanned the crowd and kept close guard on the Texas lawmaker
- Cruz lost his Secret Service detail after he dropped out of the presidential race, but still employs his own security guards
- Ohio is an 'open carry' state, although there has been pressure from city lawmakers to clamp down for the convention
- Lawmaker: 'Regardless of whether you're Ted Cruz or Joe the Plumber, you're not safe from a madman'
- Representative: 'Sometimes martyrs choose to do this and I think we ought to work together as a team'
The U.S. Capitol Police have offered to provide additional security protection for Texas Senator Ted Cruz following angry confrontations on the floor of the GOP convention in Cleveland, a law enforcement source tells DailyMail.com.
The offer of extra protection came hours after Cruz left the Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night being subjected to taunts and boos after he refused to endorse Donald Trump and instead urged Americans to vote their 'conscience.'
His wife, Heidi Cruz, had to be hustled out of the arena by a Cruz supporter fearful for her security.
Cruz addressed Texas delegates Thursday morning and got furious blowback from Trump supporters and even some of his own backers, as they yelled out at him and demanded answers for why he wouldn't endorse Trump outright.
When he appeared, Cruz was flanked by two security agents who stood guard and kept a close eye on delegates decked out in white cowboy hats and red, white, and blue outfits.
UNDER GUARD: Cruz already hires his own security detail, but Capitol Police have offered to bolster his protection after the furious response to his speech on the floor of the Republican convention
The security situation was already tense in Cleveland even before shouting matches broke out on the floor of the convention hall
It wasn't immediately known whether Cruz had accepted the offer. The Capitol Police routinely provide extra security for some senators and representatives including some who receive specific threats. Cruz, however, already employs his own security protection detail.
The force also contracts with local undercover police and civilian professionals to protect lawmakers deemed to be under threat.
Cruz previously had protection provided by the U.S. Secret Service, but had to give it up when he was no longer a presidential candidate after he dropped out of the race following his loss in Indiana.
One Republican lawmaker, asked by DailyMail.com about whether Cruz needed to get more security, responded, 'He's intentionally placed himself in this position and sometimes martyrs choose to do this and I think we ought to work together as a team.'
Another Republican lawmaker who witnessed the angry clashes on the floor, fretted about the dangers posed by a 'madman' to anyone in the public eye, while condemning the displays of temper or approximation of violence.
'That's not the Republican way,' the lawmaker told DailyMail.com. 'We settle scores at the ballot box through discourse not through violence.'
A Cruz staffer didn't respond to a request about whether he had sought or accepted additional security.
Delegates booed in the convention hall when Cruz failed to give an endorsement to Donald Trump. Cruz supporters booed when Donald Trump appeared in the venue, prompting Trump supporters to shout them down
Cruz's speech lead to angry shouting matches in the convention hall
Attendees shouted Wednesday night as Cruz delivered his speech and called for people to vote their 'conscience'
Senator Tex Cruz leaves the stage after his convention speech
The lawmaker continued: 'He's no longer a candidate he's just a rank and file senator. Any security he has is either his personal or is campaign expense. That's a decision that he's got to make. The real fact of the matter is, regardless of whether you're Ted Cruz or Joe the Plumber, you're not safe from a madman. Nobody's safe from a madman or a terrorist.'
Heidi Cruz had to be escorted out of the convention Wednesday night after furious delegates turned on her husband during and after his speech. Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who guided Heidi Cruz to safety.
'People in my own delegation started physically approaching and yelling at her,' Cuccinelli told DailyMail.com moments after the incident.
'The one that stuck with me was somebody pointing at her and yelling something about Goldman Sachs,' he said. The Cruz-backer described it as an 'ugly crowd.'
The security situation in Cleveland was already tense before the mayhem on the floor. Local police and law enforcement came in from around the country to bolster the security perimeter. Police have been spotted traveling around the city in open vehicles with semi-automatic weapons, while phalanxes of Cleveland police have been roving through the fortified downtown on bicycles.
Video footage has emerged showing Cruz's wife Heidi (circled) being led out of the Quicken Loans Arena when the crowd turned on him
At his event with the Texas delegation, Cruz faced a skein of angry questions from Trump supporters as well as some of his own backers.
'I don't support people who attack my family' Cruz shot back. Delegates stood up and yelled questions at him. ''You signed a pledge!' one Texan lectured him. 'Your word is your bond!'
Security concerns in Cleveland are such that even minor aesthetic changes are taking place. When a local venue called 'Shooters' hosted events by Cruz and House Speaker Paul Ryan, its name was changed to 'Tusker's,' with a new sign tacked onto the building and hung from its side, DailyMail.com reported Wednesday.
Officials wanted the change 'because of the name' and its connotations and 'getting some weird rumors started,' said one security staffer – who still sported a 'Shooters' T-shirt even while Senator Ted Cruz held an event at the rechristened 'Tusker's.'
Mandy Benz, who attended a Ted Cruz event at the renamed 'Tusker's' attributed the change to 'a concern with what's going on' in the country
The permanent sign renames outside Shooters and is featured on its Facebook page
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