Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a political rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, security was top of mind as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson addressed the topic at an early morning press conference outside City Hall on Monday.
“I know that people have those questions in light of what happened on Saturday. The horrific attack at Mr. Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Johnson said. “What I can tell you is that the designation that we have here in the city of Milwaukee for this convention is a national special security event. It is the highest designation that our federal government provides for an event of this caliber and magnitude. So I feel pretty confident in what we worked to establish in terms of public safety for this event over the course of the last 18 months.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Johnson noted that the city has worked with the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, Milwaukee Police Department, Milwaukee Fire Department and other law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of the event.
“I will also add that proactively many, many months ago, myself and other partners worked in a bipartisan manner in order to secure additional resources for this event,” he said. “The funding for these political nominating conventions had been stuck at around $50 million going back to 2004. We worked to increase that to $75 million.”
Johnson said the Milwaukee Common Council also adopted an ordinance similar to one in 2020 when Milwaukee was selected to host the Democratic National Convention that prohibits certain items that could be brought into the outer perimeter, or soft perimeter, that could be used as projectile weapons, like cans or bottles filled with liquid.
“The folks on the ground here have confidence in the work they’ve put in over the course of the last 18 months and I have faith and confidence as well, Johnson said.
Johnson said the city’s hands are tied when it comes to prohibiting the carrying of guns. Wisconsin law supersedes local ordinances and allows people to openly carry guns as well as concealed carry with a permit inside the “soft perimeter,” which surrounds the Secret Service-patrolled “hard perimeter.”
“I’ve said ad nauseum that there are far too many people who have access to deadly weapons who should not have access to deadly weapons,” Johnson said. “I think about felons, domestic abusers, people with long criminal histories. When people have access to those weapons, they use those weapons to commit death, harm and destruction in neighborhoods across Milwaukee, the state and across the country. If there were an opportunity for us to be able to restrict access to those weapons, especially at an event like this, I would have loved to have seen something like that.”
Johnson said his office and the city will continue to monitor any safety concerns.
“My desire is for people to attend the event and that they’re peaceful and that they take into account not just their own rights but the rights of other individuals who are expressing themselves and their political views and not have interactions with law enforcement resulting in arrests,” Johnson said.
Overnight, two arrests were made near the secure convention sites. Both involved subjects who were intoxicated, Johnson said. A Capitol Police officer sustained minor injuries in one of the arrests. Another officer required medical attention due to the heat.
“There’s been a lot of preparation that has gone on into the planning of this political convention, and the bulk of that planning has directly been involved in and around the area of public safety,” Johnson said. “For anyone in and around Downtown, you’ve seen some of these preparations up close. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes as well. Yes, there will be some inconveniences for people who are traveling to Downtown and that is inevitable in an event such as this. But I’m here to report that businesses in Downtown Milwaukee are open.”
Public safety aspects aside, Johnson said the RNC could be a catalyst for business in Milwaukee this week and beyond.
“Folks that I’ve had the chance to talk to – and we already know this – who said this city is a welcoming city, even among those of us that don’t align with the speakers at the convention,” he said. “We can still leave visitors, many who are visiting the city for the first time, with a positive impression of Milwaukee. That’s important because my goal all along is to boost the number of conventions that we have here in Milwaukee.”
Johnson said a goal of his administration is to attract more trade shows to Milwaukee, as well as large-scale political, business, sports and entertainment events.
“That will build our tourism business, creating more jobs and economic activity right here in Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “I said from the beginning that the RNC is not the end, it’s the beginning.”
