Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Former President Trump Following the near-assassination attempt on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania, his campaign and the Republican National Committee stressed that the convention “will go ahead.”
But two of Trump’s top political advisers have told staff to stay away from the campaign office while the location is investigated and armed security is stepped up.
“President Trump looks forward to joining you in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him as the 47th president of the United States,” Trump campaign co-chairs Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement Saturday night, hours after the shooting at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The statement was also signed by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law.
Tight security in Milwaukee on the eve of the Republican Convention
The exterior of the Fiserv Forum as the Republican National Convention begins, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Fox News – Monica Oros)
of Republican National Convention, The campaign trail for Trump’s formal nomination as the Republican front-runner for 2024 is set to begin on Monday in Milwaukee, the largest city in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
In a statement Sunday morning, Wiles and LaCivita reiterated that “the Republican National Convention will convene in Milwaukee as scheduled and will nominate our party’s courageous and fearless candidate for president.”
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But they also advised staff — some of whom are already working in Milwaukee ahead of the convention — to avoid election offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Washington, D.C., until those locations undergo security assessments. They also said they were stepping up security “with armed officers on-site around the clock.”
“Our number one priority is ensuring the safety of all our staff,” Wiles and LaCivita stressed.
President Trump’s co-campaign chairman Chris LaCivita speaks with Fox News and other media outlets in the Spin Room after the first debate leading up to the 2024 general election, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
When asked about security measures for the tournament in an interview with Fox News Sunday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Whatley stressed that “the arena is prepared, security is here.”
“We’re working with the Secret Service. We’re working with 40 law enforcement agencies in terms of what security is going to be. This facility is going to be able to house 50,000 delegates, representatives, guests and media. They’re going to be here and they’re going to be safe,” Whatley noted.
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The heavy security measures typical of both major party national nominating conventions – including a heavy presence of federal, state, and local law enforcement and numerous road closures, including K-rail barriers and metal barricades – were already in place before the assassination attempt on President Trump.
Former President Trump, with a bloodied face, gestures after multiple gunshots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
The shooting occurred minutes after Trump began speaking at a rally in Butler, western Pennsylvania, and the blood-covered former president was hurried off the stage by Secret Service agents.
The Secret Service reported that “a suspected gunman fired multiple shots at the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue. Secret Service agents neutralized the gunman, but he is now deceased.”
“One spectator was killed and two were seriously injured,” the Secret Service added in a statement.
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