RNC Requests Protest Zone Relocation to Enhance Security at Milwaukee Convention

The Republican National Convention is asking the Secret Service to relocate the designated protest zone away from its upcoming nominating convention in Milwaukee due to security concerns, according to recent reports. The RNC has requested that the agency move the current location of the free speech area at Pere Marquette Park a quarter-mile further away because it will force peaceful attendees and demonstrators into close proximity. Instead, Rod Steggerda – attorney for the Republican Party’s event organisers – suggested moving the protest zone half a mile to Red Arrow Park across from Milwaukee City Hall on the other side of the river that borders Fiserv Forum where the convention will be held next month at an earlier point this year, amid reports Democrats opted to postpone their own nominating event in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. A spokesperson for the Secret Service told a US news outlet they had not received any communication from RNC regarding the proposed protest zone change but said it would respond via “appropriate channels” once it did so, adding that security plans are developed and approved through an executive steering committee made up of representatives from several federal agencies as well as local partners. Milwaukee’s chief of staff Nick DeSiato told a US news outlet the city was facing pushback over protesters wanting to be closer to the convention, but stressed that the security perimeter is “exclusively established by Secret Service.” The 2024 Republican National Convention event had previously been set up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana, although its host committee – tasked with fundraising and overseeing planning efforts for next year’s event – officially withdrew from the contract earlier this month.