The Secret Service has announced a new strategy to ensure the safety of former President Donald Trump following a recent assassination attempt against him.
In the wake of the attack that occurred during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the agency has decided to implement bulletproof glass at Trump’s campaign events, as reported by ABC News. This decision follows Trump’s rejection of the agency’s earlier advice to refrain from conducting outdoor rallies.
“The measure is typically used exclusively for sitting presidents, but the Secret Service is making an exception following the first attempted assassination of a presidential candidate since George Wallace in 1972,” the report said.
“The Secret Service declined to comment on its use of ballistic glass,” it said.
The agency previously expressed a desire for Trump to refrain from conducting large outdoor rallies, advocating instead for smaller indoor venues, as reported by The Federalist. Columnist M.D. Kittle remarked, “The request from the grossly incompetent (at best) federal agency stinks of election interference and sounds a lot like a threat.” He referenced The Washington Post, which was the first to disclose the Secret Service’s request to the former president. According to the Post, “In the aftermath of the shooting, agents from the Secret Service communicated their concerns about large outdoor rallies going forward to Trump campaign advisers, three people familiar with the matter said,” the Post reported, without naming those sources.
The campaign “is not currently planning any large outdoor events, a person close to Trump said,” the outlet continued.
James Comer, the Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and a Republican from Kentucky, expressed to Fox News his belief that it would be regrettable if the federal protective agency persuaded Trump’s campaign to discontinue the outdoor rallies.
“I think people enjoy going to them and I think, you know, you can get more people outdoors than indoors,” Comer said. “He attracts a big crowd, obviously. I think the president will do what the president wants to do.”
