Former President Trump’s speech at the annual Bitcoin 2024 conference was postponed last Saturday after two people expressed safety concerns and were removed from the venue before the speech, the U.S. Secret Service told The Hill.
“Two credentialed and screened individuals were removed from the facility after failing to follow proper entry procedures,” a Secret Service spokesman said Tuesday.
The Secret Service determined the individuals had “no protective interest” and “there was no threat to the former president,” the spokesman said.
Ahead of the remarks, organizers said the postponement was because Trump was not ready or might be appearing as a special guest. CNN reported. He eventually took to the stage and the audience was not informed of the potential security issue, the outlet said.
Conference attendees were not allowed to bring any carry-on bags into the venue and were searched twice before entering the room where Trump was speaking, CNN added.
of The New York Post first reported the news. Regarding the delayed statement.
Trump’s speech in Nashville came exactly two weeks after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left one attendee dead, injured the former president and two other spectators, and raised concerns about the Secret Service’s ill-preparedness to protect Trump.
The uproar over the Secret Service’s preparations for and response to the shooting led to a disastrous congressional investigation into the incident and led to Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation last week.
Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Lowe said at a bipartisan Senate committee meeting on Tuesday that he was “ashamed” by the shooting and called it “indefensible.”
The Justice Department, through the FBI, is investigating the shooting, and Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday it was “deeply disturbing” that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get so close to President Trump during the rally.
Trump is expected to undergo a “standard victim interview” by the FBI, which the bureau said is consistent with practice for any crime it investigates.
