The RNC convention is kicking off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today, with Donald Trump expected to take the stage on Thursday. He arrived in Milwaukee yesterday. In anticipation of that, the Secret Service is already on the scene and setting up safeguards. Given the events of Saturday evening, you might expect that the President's security detail would be expanding and taking additional precautions. But it turns out that's not the case. The Secret Service insists that their planning for securing the convention site has been ongoing for 18 months and they are ready to go. Perhaps that's the case, but even if no would-be assassins show up, the situation on the ground has changed since then, particularly since October 7. They at least need to prepare for increased and potentially violent protests to take place surrounding the convention. Let's hope that they are. (NY Post)

The Secret Service will make no changes to security at the Republican National Convention in the aftermath of an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, the agency said Sunday.

“We are confident in the plans that we have and are moving forward with those plans,” Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s RNC convention coordinator, told reporters.

Trump, 78, will arrive in Milwaukee on Sunday ahead of the four-day convention during which he will be formally named the Republican nominee for president.

Earlier in the day, President Biden announced that he had directed the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to “review all security measures” for the GOP convention.

The Secret Service has set up what they are calling a "soft perimeter" around the convention site. No protests of any sort will be allowed inside of that perimeter and nobody will be allowed through without appropriate ID and their name appearing on the list of designated invitees and speakers. That all sounds good, but they need to ensure that the have the manpower and the appropriate barriers to maintain that zone. We've seen protesters rushing and even attacking the police in recent months. There's no reason to assume that those lunatics might not try the same thing against the Secret Service.

Still, the fact remains that someone tried to fire a bullet into Donald Trump's skull less than two days ago. You would think that further increasing these security measures would be justified and timely. Yet the head of the Service insists there is no need for that. They'll have to explain that to James Comer and his committee because Comer just called for a full investigation into the shooting and plans to call the Secret Service members involved to testify. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced that his panel will open an investigation into the shooting against former President Donald Trump.

Comer revealed that he has already contacted Secret Service for a hearing on what authorities are investigating as an assassination attempt against the former president.

Perhaps the Secret Service agents stationed around the perimeter will be sufficient in number and up to the task. But I sincerely hope that they are thoroughly checking and monitoring all of the windows and rooftops within the line of sight of the various convention entrances. There was simply no excuse why that rooftop in Pennsylvania wasn't locked down before Trump took the stage. That should have been the responsibility of the Secret Service leader on the scene.

Of even more potential concern is the makeup of the agents assigned to Trump's personal security team that will be traveling with him. They must do better than they did on Saturday. A couple of those agents, including two of the female ones in particular looked as if they might have been DEI hires. Reviewing the footage recorded just after the shots were fired, they were fumbling with their firearms and one of the women couldn't even get her pistol back into her holster. Also, when the agents initially huddled around Trump to protect him with their bodies, one of the women was obviously too short for the task. Trump's head remained exposed from the front for several seconds. If there had been another gunman there they would have had a clear shot. Hopefully, all of those issues are now being addressed. Let's all pray that things go more smoothly this week.