The Secret Service has approved plans to use bulletproof glass to protect former President Trump during outdoor rallies, a senior agency official confirmed to The Hill.
The plan is, First reported by ABC NewsThis marks a change in the level of protection typically offered to presidential candidates, as protective glass is typically only used on the president and vice president when deemed necessary.
But in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt at Trump’s death at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the department is working to strengthen its protections for Trump, including rethinking how to provide him with the extra protection normally only afforded to sitting executives.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, pierced President Trump’s ears at the rally, wounded two people and killed one rally attendee.
Bulletproof glass panels will be installed to protect Trump while he takes to the stage.
The former president prefers large outdoor rallies, but his campaign has canceled them in the wake of the shooting.
“They want to have an arena. I don’t know why. But we’re not going to give up on outdoor gatherings. We can accommodate at outdoor gatherings the people that we had to turn away today,” Trump said at an event last month.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Ensuring the safety of those we protect is our number one priority,” a Secret Service spokesperson told The Hill, “however, to protect the integrity of our operations, we cannot comment on specific safeguards or methods.”
From a security standpoint, the Secret Service prefers indoor venues, where the agency has more control over the setup.
But Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Lowe has previously said he would work to set up an outdoor venue.
“This is election season. Candidates want to be outside. … Whether it’s indoors or outdoors, it’s the Secret Service’s responsibility to create a safe environment,” Rowe told reporters at a news conference.
“And we need to identify the challenges, identify the concerns and think about what we need to do to mitigate those. So, going forward, if there are any campaign rallies taking place outside of there, it is our responsibility to provide all of our assets and resources to make sure those locations are safe.”
Updated 5:07 p.m.
