(Elias Irizarry, Headline USA) CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The last time former President Donald Trump had a major campaign security incident was in 2016, when a protester falsely yelled “gun” at a rally in Reno, Nevada.
For the most part, Trump rallies have been filled with high spirits and camaraderie—which some volunteers at a recent North Carolina rally said they believed led to a decrease in alertness ahead of the July 13 assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks in Butler, Pa.
Since the shooting, which took the life of rallygoer Corey Comperatore, officials within the Secret Service have been subjected to great scrutiny.
Most notably, Director Kimberly Cheatle, facing bipartisan pressure during a hearing from the House Oversight Committee on Monday, resigned from her post a day later.
Conservative activists and politicians have criticized the Secret Service’s response to the attack, including a request from the agency that the Trump campaign cease all outdoor rallies.
An NBC News report on Wednesday, citing two anonymous sources within the Trump campaign, said the three-time GOP presidential nominee planned to comply.
Now the Secret Service says the answer is to stop outdoor rallies?
The answer is to give the American people the FACTS about what really happened – and start protecting the President pic.twitter.com/8LGRxqtdOj
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 25, 2024
One campaign volunteer at the North Carolina rally, which took place inside Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum, told Headline USA he had volunteered at dozens of rallies in this campaign cycle alone. However, he said he had personally noticed that security had gotten too relaxed.
That sentiment was shared by a security guard, who argued that while nothing changed in the major instructions of guarding the rallies, the level of professionalism and alertness that the campaign had started with returned following the Butler security breach.
Security measures in Charlotte—which marked the first rally since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and only the second since the assassination attempt—had notably increased.
Cars that parked in the main lot were subject to sweeping, with a drive-through Secret Service tent set up at the entrance of the stadium.
When cars came through, they were instructed to exit the vehicle and open their hood and trunks to be searched by officers, as well as bomb-sniffing dogs.
Additionally, dump trucks filled with sand surrounded the entrances of the arena to prevent any would-be car bombers from breaching the perimeter.
The increase in security for Trump himself was also visible. Where the former president, in previous rallies, had been accompanied by an entourage of up to five agents, he was now accompanied by more than 12 agents, including some fully equipped with tactical gear and rifles.
Whether it was because of the beefed-up measures or despite the terrorist threat posed by Crooks, rallygoers remained undeterred and determined to show their support for Trump.
“The security seems on point today, and everybody seems like they’re in good spirits and excited to be here,” said Nikki Nunley, a precinct organization chair for the Mecklenburg County GOP.
The capacity crowd—which left many waiting outside, hoping to get in—had broken the coliseum’s record for attendance, Trump said during his speech, citing the venue’s owner.
Chelsea Walsh, former chair of the Henderson County GOP, said it was her first rally of the campaign season, and while a few family members had expressed their concern, most of the reactions she received were jealousy and encouragement.
“I have text messages from family telling me to be safe and to be careful—but, you know, I’m not going to live in fear,” Walsh told Headline USA.
“The amount of text messages I’ve received, on the contrary, saying ‘I wish I could do that,’ ‘I wish I could be there,’ ‘You’re so brave…,’ she continued. “It’s just been really nice to be here as a community, and I don’t think any of us have felt unsafe at all.”
As he did during his acceptance speech at the GOP convention in Milwaukee last week, Trump marveled at the loyalty that rallygoers such as the “Front-Row Joes” showed in staying put.
“They were sitting on the front row and things were happening that weren’t too nice, right?” Trump said.
“… But they were there, and they didn’t move—you know, amazing, nobody moved,” he continued. “When a bullet goes off—it’s a freak thing—but a bullet goes off, crowds always run. They run—they call it a stampede. Nobody ran. And we had 55,000 people. Nobody ran.”
Many agreed that the sense of community and support provided by the rallies made volunteers and guests feel safe and secure.
“I feel like everybody’s unified,” said Erin LeCroy, a volunteer from Union County, N.C. “That everybody who comes to these rallies are the type of people that want to be with each other—and I think that sense of community makes me feel safe at a rally like this.”
Follow Elias Irizarry at twitter.com/EliasForSC
