MILWAUKEE – Republicans pouring into Milwaukee for the party’s convention are angrily demanding answers for what has been termed the “massive security breach” that permitted the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
About 50,000 people are arriving in the city for a four-day event during which 78-year-old Trump will be formally chosen as the Republican candidate for president and announce his choice of running mate.
But after a 20-year-old gunman on Saturday fired a volley of bullets from a rooftop and pierced Trump’s ear before being shot dead by a US Secret Service agent, delegates and guests are demanding to know how the incident could happen.
“I find it pretty amazing that the rooftop was not protected,” Mary Erickson, a delegate from Jacksonville, Florida, told i. “I’ve been to rallies where we’ve seen [Secret Service] snipers on the roof, so why wasn’t there somebody protecting it? It was highly negligent.”
Others said Trump should receive the same level of protection as the US President, and that independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr – who has requested Secret Service protection but so far been refused – should be taken care of.
Pastor John Vacchiano, also from Florida, said that at Trump events in his state there was an abundance of security, which appeared to have been lacking at the former president’s rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
“Looking back at it, where was the breakdown? That seems part of it,” he told i at the lobby of a hotel in central Milwaukee, where delegates were registering. Many appeared to be old friends who had attended such events before.
The pastor added: “Of course, so many people are praying for him.”
Some Republicans were sharper, with several calling for the removal of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who has been summoned to testify before a US House of Representatives committee on 22 July as part of an investigation involving the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Secret Service.
Carlos Giménez, a member of the homeland security committee, claimed on X that there were “inexcusable security breaches”.
Kenneth Gray, a retired FBI special agent and professor at the University of New Haven, told the Financial Times the fact the gunman could access the roof 150m from the President and shoot him undetected “shows a breakdown in the security plan for this rally” and suggested “they needed additional resources”.
Some Republicans blamed the Secret Service’s diversity and inclusion policies, circulating 2023 comments by Ms Cheatle saying it wanted to employ 30 per cent women by 2030.
Congressman Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Senate candidate, said the attack raised “grave concerns” over a “security failure at the highest level, not seen since the attempted assassination of President Reagan”.
Several rallygoers told police at the event that they had seen Crooks acting suspiciously, the Associated Press reported. Police heard he had climbed a ladder to the roof, and an officer followed and encountered the gunman, who turned towards him. The officer, unable to wield his gun, dropped back down, and the gunman took his shot at Trump, officials said.
Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential detail, said there would be “an intensive review” of the incident and “a massive realignment”.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said claims that the agency had turned down a Trump team request for additional security were “absolutely false”, writing on X that it had “added protective resources and technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo”.
But he confirmed that the agency – which has faced pressure in recent years amid staffing shortages and repeated security lapses – relied on local police to fill out its array of specialised protective units.
The Secret Service denied claims by a US reporter that it had diverted resources to a Jill Biden event, and that “supplemental agents” were used because Trump’s regular detail had been overworked.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ location on an office rooftop on Saturday was outside the Secret Service’s security perimeter, raising questions about the size of the perimeter, how the building was secured and why he was able to access the roof.
Florida congressman Cory Mills, an army veteran, told CNN it would not have taken much for someone with a high-powered rifle to hit a target from that range. “There was no one on that building… This is a massive security breach, in my opinion,” said Mr Mills.
Kevin Rojek, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters it was “surprising” the gunman had been able to open fire on the stage. He said the FBI did not “have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was”.
He later said it was believed the gunman acted alone and that there were no public safety concerns.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe told CNN that “one of the most basic elements of site security, especially a site that’s outside and largely uncontrolled, is [to] eliminate sight lines” and that a map shows the buildings “clearly within shooting range”.
Security measures around the Republican National Convention (RNC) are being tightened after the assassination attempt. Ms Cheatle said the plan had been “reviewed and strengthened in the wake of Saturday’s shooting”.
Law enforcement officials told CBS that planning was underway to expand the perimeter and create buffer zones around events.
At least two dozen states and the District of Columbia are sending officers to the convention, according to the Milwaukee Police Department, and officials said additional departments could be added to the list.
The Department of Homeland Security classifies the RNC as a SEAR 1 event, the highest level, meaning “significant events with national and/or international importance that require extensive federal interagency support”.
As is required for such events, a joint threat assessment created by the FBI, Secret Service, Milwaukee police and the Milwaukee Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Centre was sent to law enforcement officials before the RNC, calling for heightened awareness.
The 2 July assessment noted that the convention could be viewed as “an attractive target” for domestic extremists, foreign terrorists and lone offenders looking to disrupt democracy and cause societal chaos.
While attendees will not be allowed to bring guns into the Fiserv Forum where the event takes place, firearms may be carried in the soft security perimeter around the RNC. Wisconsin police chief Jeffrey Norman said Milwaukee was unable to restrict guns because of the state’s open-carry laws.
Federal officials said security for the RNC and August’s Democratic National Convention was constantly “evolving”. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the city received $75m in federal grant money for RNC security and Chicago will receive the same for the DNC.
Michael Hensle, FBI special agent in charge in Milwaukee, said there was “no known specific articulated threat to the RNC” but that there were higher levels of online “chatter” about the assassination attempt.
FBI deputy director Paul Abbate said online threats of violence, already on the upswing, had risen since the shooting.
In Milwaukee, some people told i that while they felt deep unease by what took place, they hoped the incident would lead to more “civil discourse”.
Julie Harris, president of the National Federation of Republican Women, said that when she saw Trump get to his feet and raise his fist, she felt utter relief. “When he got to his feet, there was no place for anger, just gratitude,” she said.