Thousands of police officers from across the country will be in Milwaukee this week to join local, state and federal authorities in providing security during the Republican National Convention.
A number of them hail from metro Atlanta. Eight police officers and a firefighter from Sandy Springs, all members of the Quick Response Force, will join the effort.
“Earlier this year, Milwaukee PD’s Chief of Police reached out across the country seeking assistance from other agencies during this event,” Sandy Springs police spokesman Sgt. Leon Millholland said Friday.
In 2012, Sandy Springs sent a contingent of officers to assist with security at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, he said.
Security at the RNC was already expected to be robust before the Saturday shooting at campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where authorities said a would-be assassin injured former President Donald Trump.
One person was killed and two other attendees were critically wounded in the shooting, according to officials, and Trump was seen bleeding on stage after he said a bullet grazed his ear. Authorities said the suspected gunman was also killed. The FBI early Sunday identified him as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Trump’s campaign said late Saturday that the convention would proceed as planned, though it’s unclear what additional security measures might be put in place when it begins Monday.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, said DHS and the Secret Service are “engaged” with both Trump and President Joe Biden’s campaigns and “taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
“Maintaining the security of the presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of our department’s most vital priorities,” he said in a statement.
Asked how the shooting at Trump’s rally might impact security measures at the downtown convention, Milwaukee police referred all questions to the Secret Service.
A Milwaukee police spokesperson said this week that 16 outside law enforcement agencies from across Wisconsin were sending officers to assist with security during the convention. They will be joined by police from another 25 departments across 11 states, authorities said.
— Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this article
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