Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Secret Service: ‘No Changes’ To Security Plan For Upcoming RNC


Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images

The Secret Service confirmed that there will be no changes to its security plan for the upcoming Republican National Convention that begins Monday.

“There have been no changes to our current operational security plans for this event,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service agent coordinating the RNC’s security, said during a press conference on Sunday. “We are confident in these security plans that are in place for this event and we’re ready to go.”

Gibson-Cicchino said the current security plan is at the highest designated level of security and has been developed over 18 months.

“This event has been designated as a national special security event, which is the highest level of security for an event that can be designated by the government,” she said. “We had an extensive planning process to include many organizations building out the security plan for any and all aspects of security related to this event.”

Questions about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump were not answered and instead were referred to the Secret Service’s D.C. office.

The Secret Service has been under fire since it was revealed that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to climb on top of a roof a relatively short distance from the venue in order to shoot at Trump.

Firearms are not allowed into the “inner-perimeter” where the convention will take place but are allowed outside of it.

“We have to respect the Second Amendment right to carry your firearm,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at the press conference. “As that is your right, please exercise your right in a responsible manner.”

“The Milwaukee Police Department will not tolerate any particular behaviors outside what is legally allowed in regards to that right,” he added.

Just prior to Crooks shooting at Trump, a local police officer retreated after he climbed up a ladder to the roof and faced the barrel of  Crooks’ gun, an unnamed source told The Associated Press.


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