How Presidential Security Was Handled at the Atlanta Debate

Secret Service agents responded immediately when gunshots reportedly rang out at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Within seconds, a swarm of agents surrounded the former president and he was immediately taken away from the site. His campaign says he is doing well.

Credits: AP

Credits: AP

Details of the specific security measures in place at the Pennsylvania event were not immediately known, but previous Trump rallies have been equipped with metal detectors and other forms of on-site screening and measures. Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that Saturday’s suspected shooter was outside the rally and was shot and killed by the Secret Service.

Increased caution and increased law enforcement presence are expected before and during events involving current and former presidents.

Atlanta Police Foundation President Dave Wilkinson, who previously spent 22 years in the Secret Service, told the AJC in June that the presidential debate in Atlanta required the “highest level” of security from various law enforcement agencies.

“The Secret Service not only protects the president and his family, but also the former president,” he said before the June 27 debate.

The candidates’ arrival times and routes were not made public before the event. Highways were intermittently blocked to accommodate presidential motorcades, and detours were put in place for surface streets in Midtown near CNN’s studios.

Unprecedented security measures were also put in place in 2023 when Trump surrendered at the Fulton County Jail, charged with interfering with the 2020 election. Security officials put the facility on a “strict lockdown” and its parking lot was cordoned off. Convoys of patrol cars also drove around the perimeter, flashing blue lights to clear the roads.

Credits: John Spink

Credits: John Spink