MILWAUKEE — Security at the Republican National Convention is on edge following the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump on Saturday night, with a security official at the convention site acknowledging “a clear lack of confidence in the Secret Service.”
“If I was a member of the Secret Service, I would be embarrassed. I would be uncomfortable,” Sean Steele, a California delegate to the Republican National Convention and a convention clerk, told The Washington Post.
“And they are, and you can feel it. They’re the guys on the street with big jackets that say ‘Secret Service’. It’s not a badge of honor. It’s a badge of shame,” he added.
As a convention attendee, Steele is responsible for notifying local police if he sees rioters or threatening people at the Republican National Convention. He has no law enforcement experience, but he can warn others at the convention.
The Secret Service has come under fire for failing to stop 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks, who tried to open fire on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Crooks was stationed on a rooftop near an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where, despite officers’ warning, he shot Trump in the ear and killed rally-goer Corey Comperatore.
The department’s chief, Kimberly Cheatle, said the roof Crooks was on was “sloped” and that “safety reasons” may not have allowed agents to be stationed there.
After the assassination attempt, Secret Service members shot and killed Crooks and wrestled Trump to the floor before taking the Republican candidate to a motorcade to be taken to a local hospital for treatment.
President Trump issued several statements over the weekend praising and thanking them for their actions.
Steele, meanwhile, argued that security around the Republican National Convention is good, with “thousands of volunteers helping with security” and “very sophisticated ID systems and badges.”
The entire RNC convention site is also protected by a chain-link fence, with a perimeter that is inaccessible to vehicles and pedestrians only allowed access after receiving a badge and security screening each day.
After the shooting, the Secret Service told reporters it had no plans to increase security at the Republican National Convention.
“We are confident in our plan and are moving forward with it,” Audrey Gibson Cicchino, the Secret Service’s coordinator for the Republican National Convention, told reporters on Sunday.
Trump was flanked by all-male Secret Service agents as he entered the convention venue on Monday, a change from Saturday when he was accompanied by a mixed-gender agent.
Following the assassination attempt, President Biden ordered the Secret Service to increase security resources for President Trump.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post.
