GOP is mad that Milwaukee cops are making them face protesters
Republicans are trying to move protesters further away from their national convention site this summer, but the Secret Service and local officials in Milwaukee aren't letting them do it.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wrote to Secret Service chief Kim Cheatle warning that preliminary plans would create an "area of conflict" outside the convention between protesters, convention-goers and delegates, echoing similar concerns voiced last month by the Republican National Committee, but sources told NBC News the protest zone falls outside security perimeter.
“There’s no appetite to alter any of the decisions we’ve made to date regarding protests zones,” said Milwaukee alderman Robert Bauman. “I don’t see the city making any changes to the current arrangement regarding speakers, platforms, protest zones, parade routes."
GOP officials cited a man who set himself on fire outside Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan and a suspicious package that arrived this week at RNC headquarters to ask the Secret Service to expand its security perimeter to prevent attendees and delegates from coming into close contact with protesters.
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"Look what's going on in college campuses," said a GOP convention planning official. "You can just turn on the TV, we know there's going to be bad actors that want to come here, and that's our concern and why we really think [the Secret Service] should include the park."
Officials with the Secret Service say the security perimeter is based on a threat assessment, and they're not inclined to secure additional territory, but GOP officials are frustrated the agency has told them civilians don't have the expertise to make security decisions.
"I said, 'OK, well, you're protecting civilians, and I'm asking about everyone's safety,'" the planning official said. "It's ridiculous."
Protest areas are typically places within "sight and sound" of event locations, or their security perimeters, based on past court rulings, and a spokesman for Milwaukee mayor Cavalier Johnson indicated that city officials have not made a final decision on the location of the protest zone they would be responsible for securing.
"We are very open to listening to all the concerns that are being expressed, from people who want it closer and from people who want it farther way," said spokesman Jeff Fleming.