The U.S. Secret Service has “heightened” the security at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with rally goers saying that they felt safe attending.
— Safety was foremost on the minds of ardent Trump supporters who flocked to the Butler Farm Show grounds to hear the former president.
Police were ubiquitous among the crowd estimated by a Butler County Sheriff’s officer to number up to 60,000 people, snipers could be seen perched on rooftops ahead of the rally, and the Secret Service acknowledged heightened security. The event marked Trump’s return to the Pennsylvania venue where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July. The former president’s remarks are scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.
Friends who traveled over three hours to see Trump said that their families had concerns about them coming to the rally, but expressed how they felt safe with the bolstered security.
“Our families weren’t too crazy about us coming today”, Jody Cavalieri said. “But we see the snipers, the police everywhere, and the camaraderie, and it’s great.”
“People coming from all around the country, it’s an amazing feeling”, Dena Diebold said.
The Secret Service have upped security since the first Butler rally in July — which included the roof of a nearby warehouse where investigators say that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired from on July 13.
Crooks unleashed eight rounds of bullets, grazing Trump’s ear, killing a 50-year-old firefighter and father of two daughters, Corey Comperatore, and wounding two others.
