By Shaddi Abusaid
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MILWAUKEE – Federal officials say there are no plans to change security measures at the Republican National Convention after a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle opened fire at former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Law enforcement is on heightened alert following the assassination attempt, which the FBI said is being investigated as an act of domestic terror.
But at a news conference Sunday, local and federal officials said they were confident in the safety measures decided over the past 18 months.
“We are confident in the plan we have implemented for the Republican National Convention,” said Audrey Gibson-Cicchino,” the U.S. Secret Service’s RNC coordinator. “We’re not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans for this event.”
Gibson-Cicchino said the Secret Service worked with the Milwaukee Police Department and other agencies “to ensure a safe and secure convention,” and that there are no plans to increase the security perimeter surrounding the convention venues, which include Baird Center, Fiserv Forum and the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Michael Hensle, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office, said there has been no “specific articulated threat to the RNC” or anyone attending.
Both Milwaukee’s mayor and the city’s police chief said the event already had the highest security designation possible, highlighting the city’s collaboration with outside agencies over the past year.
“We got this,” Chief Jeffrey Norman told reporters.
Local officials said there is nothing they can do to prohibit guns within the “soft perimeter” near the convention, however, because Wisconsin state law allows people to carry firearms.
“We as a city cannot legislate out of that,” Norman said. “We have to operate within those guidelines ... We have to respect the Second Amendment right to carry your firearms, especially in regards to open carry or carrying concealed if you’re licensed.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said city leaders “proactively” banned certain items from being brought into the outer security area, including cans full of liquid and other “hard objects that could be used as projectile weapons.”
“But in terms of banning weapons in the outer perimeter, that is not within our purview,” he said.
Large protests coinciding with the first day of the convention have been in the works for months. The Coalition to March on the RNC said it will hold “a major march and rally” starting at 11 a.m. EDT in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park.
Protest organizers said on their website that a coalition of groups will come together to “stop the Republicans’ racist and reactionary agenda, defend reproductive rights, and demand peace, justice and equity.”
On her way to Wisconsin Sunday morning, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, said despite the planned protests and attempt on the former president’s life, she feels confident in the security measures in place for the convention.
“I’ve been briefed on it. I feel confident in the security there,” Greene told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. “If there’s such a large threat that breaches that security, I think our entire country is in trouble.”
Greene, who is among Trump’s most prominent supporters, is expected speak at the convention.
In Milwaukee, some downtown roads are closed to traffic, pedestrian access is limited and maritime restrictions are in place near the site of the convention.
Saturday’s shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, left one attendee dead and at least two others critically wounded, authorities said.
Trump was seen bleeding on stage. He later said in a social media post that a bullet grazed his ear. Authorities said the suspected gunman was also killed. The FBI identified him as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old who lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
There was already a heavy police presence expected in Milwaukee, with thousands of officers from across the United States descending on Milwaukee to help local, state and federal authorities. That includes eight officers from Sandy Springs.
A Milwaukee police spokesperson said 16 outside law enforcement agencies from across Wisconsin are sending officers to assist with security during for convention. They will be joined by police from another 25 departments across 11 states, authorities said.
_______
©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
