Trump shooting triggers heightened domestic threat warning ahead of RNC: officials
Authorities have issued a heightened domestic threat warning urging caution in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump — noting that the shooting could trigger other extremists to act ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, according to an NYPD intelligence memo.
As the FBI investigates the motive behind Saturday’s shooting, which left Trump and two others injured and another man dead, the NYPD was among the many police departments forced to evaluate the threat level caused by the current political climate, sources inside the intel community told The Post.
The NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau concluded that regardless of the motive behind the shooting, the attempt on the former president’s life will likely be hailed and exploited by extremist groups inside and outside the US to spur further division in the country.
The intelligence memo found that the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., demonstrates that violent extremists still view the assassination of an elected official as a viable tactic for their messaging.
The reality of the threat and current era of political division in the US should be enough to heighten the security around campaign events, which are held before the public and offer access to a candidate, officials warned.
Along with urging caution, law enforcement officials noted that in the immediate wake of the attempted assassination, many flocked to social media to support the shooting and spread calls for another attack on Trump.
Others had demanded a retaliatory attack, while some even called for a civil war.
Officials warned that a person’s pattern of extremist posts online could be an indicator of a looming threat.
After the attempt on his life, Trump, 78, told The Post that he would be forgoing his “extremely tough speech” he prepared for the GOP convention, instead choosing to focus on uniting a polarized country.
“I want to try to unite our country,” he said aboard his private jet en route to Milwaukee. “But I don’t know if that’s possible. People are very divided.”
RNC officials and the Secret Service have spent 18 months planning the security for the convention, which starts Monday, but officials have said the plan in place has not been bolstered or altered following Saturday’s shooting.
Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s RNC convention coordinator, told reporters Sunday that despite the shooting, the agency is “confident” in its security plan.
Protests have already been planned inside the soft perimeter area of the convention, where protesters and other spectators would be legally allowed to bear firearms, as Wisconsin is an open-carry state.
