Beto O’Rourke Presidential Campaign Rally scheduled same day as three other events downtown

In four days, Beto O’Rourke will officially kick off his Presidential Campaign with a rally in El Paso.

The rally will be held on South El Paso Street between west Overland and West Paisano, but that could present a problem.

The rally is the same day that three other events are already planned in the same area.

City officials told ABC 7′ s Christina Aguayo that they are already preparing for the busy weekend ahead.

Sgt. Enrique Carrillo with the El Paso Police Department said, ” Those events are all going to overlap at one point or another, so we’re anticipating large crowds and heavy vehicle traffic. ”

O’Rourke’s plan to hold his rally in El Paso on Saturday was made about two weeks ago when he asked people to join him for the kick off to his Presidential Campaign.

His campaign rally will start about 10:00 on Saturday, near Arts Festival Plaza, which is around the same time and location that the Sun City Crit – National Cycling Race is set to begin.

Brooke Underwood, the Asst. General Manager at Visit El Paso is proud to have the race in El Paso, She said, ” El Paso was selected as one of nine destinations in the country to host a race of this magnitude. ”

About 3,000 competitors and spectators from around the country will be coming ot the city for the event.

Underwood explained the race, ” And they’re gonna race kind of Nascar style of the cycling world on a closed course in an Urban setting. ”

The 3/4 of a mile race course will start and end at San Jacinto Plaza, which means some roads will be closed around downtown.

And in and around the convention center beer fest will kick off Saturday afternoon. Last year the event sold out with about 6,000 people.

Also, The Locomotive Soccer team is playing at home. Sgt. Carrillo said that he expects fans to start arriving to the downtown area for the game, in the late afternoon and sends out a warning, ” Whoever is planning on attending any of those events, plan way ahead. ”

Something law enforcement is doing themselves, but according to Carrillo, because O’Rourke’s camp had not completed the permit process as of Tuesday morning. ” We’ve haven’t really had too much of an opportunity to provide input and recommendations as to traffic, and security measures for that specific event, ” Carrillo said.

A spokesman from the city said that O’Rourke’s camp did apply for a permit, but it could take up to a month to process. However, the rally will be held on Saturday even if the process is not complete.

He also said that the rally application is under city departmental review – but he doesn’t see a problem with multiple events being held downtown on the same day.

ABC 7′ s live coverage of the Beto rally begins at 10:00 Saturday morning.

ABC 7 will also live stream the event on KVIA.com and on the KVIA news app.