Staff Reports
Republican leaders are calling on the Secret Service to make the security area around the site of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee bigger. They want to keep delegates and attendees safe from potential clashes with pro-Palestinian demonstrators who are planning to gather at the event in July.
GOP officials say the Secret Service, along with local and state officials in Wisconsin, are creating a “protest trap” for RNC attendees, including members of Congress. Milwaukee officials have told RNC planners that the convention has made some people in the community scared, especially people of color who worry about being harassed and threatened by Republican attendees.
GOP leaders clash with Secret Service over ‘protest trap’ near Republican National Convention sitehttps://t.co/vGJvePnHWr pic.twitter.com/KBZajoMcQv
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 14, 2024
The RNC organizers say the proposed security area would allow a lot of protesters to gather and show their opinions at Pere Marquette Park, which is less than a mile from the convention center and on the path that attendees will need to take to enter a key security checkpoint.
There are plans for big protests at both the Republican and Democratic conventions this summer following weeks of unrest at colleges over the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza. The RNC is also expected to attract supporters and opponents of former President Donald Trump. Democrats are planning more online events to avoid encounters with protesters at their August convention in Chicago.
Republicans planning the Milwaukee convention want the Secret Service to make the security area bigger to keep protesters away. However, the Secret Service has so far stuck to a proposed area that does not include the park because they are worried the city could get sued by demonstrators who want to use the city-owned green space.
The effect of this, an RNC lawyer wrote to the Secret Service, “will be creating… a required place where people will be walking into the area of the demonstrators.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote to the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle asking her to meet with RNC leaders to talk about the security concerns before the convention, which will happen from July 15-18 at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
Mr. McConnell wrote a letter because he is worried about reports that the security area around the Republican National Convention site may be creating a likely area of conflict between protesters and convention attendees that could be stopped.
Mr. McConnell’s letter came after a tense meeting between RNC officials and members of the Secret Service and local officials where the Secret Service said they would not move the security area.
The Secret Service agents in Milwaukee told RNC officials they have not gotten any real information about safety threats to convention attendees. They said making the security area bigger could lead to lawsuits from those who want to be even closer, according to someone who knows about the meeting.
A Milwaukee police captain told RNC officials at the meeting that community members think conventiongoers are the real threat and that they would “terrorize Milwaukee citizens” and “harass minorities.” A city official said the captain was sharing comments from others at community meetings, not giving his own thoughts about the RNC.
The disagreement about the security area is about trying to balance the rights of demonstrators and the safety of the conventiongoers, the city official said. He explained that Milwaukee has to set up a place for demonstrations and a route for a parade during the convention, but the people planning to demonstrate and the convention officials are not happy with where the city thinks they should be.
The Secret Service did not respond to a question from The Washington Times. They told RNC officials they have not seen any real threats of violence. The city’s Department of Public Works is allowed to say no to permit requests from protesters who “have previously done violent or destructive things at a past parade or other public gathering.”
City officials said they have to let protesters set up “within sight and sound” of the convention. People who want to demonstrate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago have been told they have to stay much further away.
A group of organizations is asking a federal judge to make the way clear for them to protest closer to the United Center in Chicago, where the convention will happen from August 19-22.
