By Tim Reid and Katharine Jackson
MILWAUKEE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. federal officials charged with security at the Republican Party’s convention, set to kick off in Milwaukee this week, are not planning to make any changes to their security protocols despite an assassination attempt against presumptive nominee Donald Trump on Saturday that sparked fears of further political violence.
“We are confident in the security plans for this event and we are ready to go,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the U.S. Secret Service’s coordinator for the convention, said at a televised briefing for reporters. “We are not anticipating any security changes.”
The remarks show officials are eager to assuage fears about security at the convention, with Secret Service and police officials stressing that there are no known articulated threats against the Republican National Convention.
Trump, 78, escaped with minor injuries and will accept the formal Republican presidential nomination at the four-day convention, expected to draw more than 50,000 people. He had just begun to speak in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening when a bullet pierced his right ear, streaking his face with blood.
“We feel very comfortable that we’re working with the Secret Service,” Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley said in an interview on Fox earlier on Sunday. “We’re working with 40 different law enforcement agencies in terms of what that security is going to look like,” he added.
A 50-year-old volunteer firefighter died shielding his family to protect them from the bullets. Two other rally attendees were critically wounded. Law enforcement agents killed the suspected gunman, a 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, which is about an hour’s drive from the site of the rally.
Whatley urged Republicans to use this moment as an opportunity for unity, moving beyond partisan divisions.
“There is no place in politics in any way, shape or form for this kind of violence, for these types of actions. It’s a horrific act,” Whatley said. “Everybody in America needs to stop. They need to pause, they need to reflect on what is actually important for us in this political process going forward.”
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who is a key ally for Trump’s rival President Joe Biden, said the violence against Trump should motivate both parties to shore up security, with Democrats due to hold their convention in Chicago in August.
“We need to be more concerned and more diligent than ever in ensuring that our two conventions and the rest of this presidential campaign comes off safely and securely,” he told NBC.
The Republican convention is set to take place in the arena that is home to the NBA Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Tim Reid and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Lisa Shumaker and Andrea Ricci)
