In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump, the Secret Service has reportedly asked the Trump campaign to reconsider future outdoor events, and one attendee of the tragic event said he may not attend the next one given the circumstances.
Secret Service officials have suggested to the Trump campaign that they no longer hold outdoor rallies, and the campaign is reportedly considering larger indoor venues. According to the Washington Post.
Valerie McGregor, a Trump supporter from Plum, Pennsylvania, whose trip to nearby Butler was her first time meeting the former president, said she was heartbroken by the events of the day. McGregor said she’s not the only person who may never visit a Trump venue again because of a traumatic experience.
A Democratic official who visited Butler said local officials told him they needed to have more conversations about security failures.
A crowd gathers at a rally for former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Fox News)
Looking back, she said she saw it firsthand when others, including Wendy Bell and Sean Parnell, voiced the same concerns on local radio shows after the fact.Giving one example, McGregor said she didn’t see any surveillance drones when she was at the scene.
“I heard [the radio shows] “It was discussed right afterwards, and they were right,” she said. “I hadn’t been to any of the other rallies, so I didn’t think about those things.”
On that note, McGregor said this may be her first and last visit to see the former president: “I hear President Trump is still having rallies, which is good. But I don’t know if I’m going to the next one, and my husband is not going to the next one. [go]”How could you be any safer attending a rally with a former president of the United States?” she said.
That Saturday in Butler, McGregor attended a rally with friends while her husband stayed home and watched the rally on television.
She said she and a friend arrived at the agricultural show venue early but were unable to secure a seat.
Trump shooting: Timeline of assassination attempt raises questions about how gunman escaped security
Flags fly at half-staff at the main entrance of the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 22, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“We were on the right side of the stage. [by] “It was about a 30-foot drop,” McGregor said, adding that she and a friend heard gunshots ring out and saw a nearby forklift pump misfire, spewing hydraulic fluid, at which point she saw a speaker hit by the hydraulic fluid jet and fall to the ground.
“I was really looking forward to going to the rally. I never went to a Trump rally before the last election, so I was disappointed that I didn’t go,” she said.
As for indoor gatherings, as the Secret Service has recommended, McGregor said enclosed gatherings pose other risks. He noted that nearby Ark. Stadium, the longtime home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, regularly sells out for concerts by artists including Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks.
“If it was indoors, you’d have more control, [Trump] “He draws such big crowds,” McGregor says. “He’s so loved and so hated at the same time.”
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“It would be really awful if something were to happen and people were to start trying to get out inside,” she said.
McGregor also said former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was given too long to tender her resignation.
McGregor believed an immediate firing would have prevented Congress from calling her to testify this week, but said Cheatle should have been fired immediately after the security failings were discovered.
She said that from her own experience working in corporate America, if someone made a serious mistake, they would have been “fired” straight away.
