Former President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he will continue holding outdoor rallies despite the U.S. Secret Service reportedly advising him not to earlier this week.
In the aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, the Secret Service reportedly encouraged the former president to avoid holding outdoor campaign rallies altogether. Despite the Secret Service urging against it, Trump has vowed to continue holding the outdoor rallies in a post on Truth Social and said that the Secret Service will “substantially step up” their security detail going forward.
“I WILL CONTINUE TO DO OUTDOOR RALLIES, AND SECRET SERVICE HAS AGREED TO SUBSTANTIALLY STEP UP THEIR OPERATION,” Trump said in the post. “THEY ARE VERY CAPABLE OF DOING SO. NO ONE CAN EVER BE ALLOWED TO STOP OR IMPEDE FREE SPEECH OR GATHERING!!!”
“Ensuring the safety and security of our protectees is our highest priority,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The gunman was able to take aim at Trump from a rooftop positioned just 130 yards from the stage, and he was reportedly spotted by witnesses and flagged by the Secret Service nearly an hour before the Republican nominee started the rally.
20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at and wounded the former president, killing attendee Corey Comperatore and injuring Copenhaver and David Dutch, who are both in stable condition.
In the days following the assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and the agency as a whole faced a slew of backlash for security lapses as the rally. After providing an evasive testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday regarding the security failures on July 13., Cheatle resigned from her position the following day.
