Security measures for the Republican National Convention revealed by Secret Service.

TL/DR –

The Secret Service has announced that a park in Milwaukee, close to the arena hosting the Republican National Convention, will be off-limits to protesters during the event next month. The decision comes after intense lobbying by convention organizers. The park will only be accessible to people with official credentials, including delegates and journalists.

Milwaukee Park Off Limits for Protesters during Republican National Convention

Pere Marquette Park in Milwaukee, located near the Republican National Convention arena, will be inaccessible to protesters during next month’s event, Secret Service officials announced. The decision follows strong advocacy from convention organizers for the restriction.

The park’s accessibility will instead be restricted to individuals carrying official credentials like delegates and journalists during the mid-July convention. Official statements were made at the Secret Service news conference in Milwaukee.

Protest groups intended to use the conveniently located park, nestled between the convention arena – the Fiserv Forum – and the Milwaukee River, as a rallying point.

Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, an assistant special agent and the Secret Service’s coordinator for the convention, stated its proximity to the Milwaukee County Historical Society, a venue for other official convention activities, posed a security concern.

Gibson-Cicchino said, “The executive steering committee determined the location needed to fall within the security perimeter to ensure maximum safety for the convention.”

For protesters, the Secret Service allocated two alternative parks outside the inner security perimeter, a zone approximately five blocks by seven blocks downtown. Despite being further from the arena, they lie within the outermost security perimeter where vehicle screening checkpoints are conducted.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, an organization that sued the city on behalf of a protesters’ group, condemned the large size of the security perimeter and Pere Marquette Park’s inclusion within it.

“The expansion symbolizes an unjustifiable concession to the Republican National Committee, which objected to the presence of demonstrators near the convention,” commented Tim Muth, a staff attorney for the A.C.L.U. of Wisconsin.

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