The US Secret Service will use bulletproof glass to protect Donald Trump at future outdoor campaign rallies, according to reports, after the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.
The agency plans to surround Trump’s podium with ballistic glass, multiple news outlets reported, a measure typically reserved for serving presidents and vice-presidents.
Trump has held nearly a dozen election campaign events since the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July, but all of them have been indoors. At a recent indoor rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump lamented the location and said: “We’re not giving up the outdoor rallies.”
ABC News was the first to report on the use of bulletproof glass. It said that Secret Service agents plan to use glass panels to surround Trump on three sides, although it is unclear when the security measure will first be used.
A Secret Service official told the Washington Post that the agency has begun to position panels of ballistic glass around the country, making it easier to transport to various Trump events. The official said ballistic glass would be used at events by Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, if warranted.
The glass is usually used exclusively for serving presidents and their vice-presidents, although it was used in November 2008 when Barack Obama, then a US Senator, appeared in Chicago to celebrate winning the presidential election.
One person, Corey Comperatore, was killed, two people were seriously injured, and Donald Trump was wounded in the ear in the shooting in Butler. The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned 10 days later. Earlier this month the new acting director of the agency described the shooting as “a failure” by security services, and said agents should have had better coverage of the roof from where the shots were fired. The gunman was killed by government snipers shortly after firing.
A House task force was set up in July to investigate the shooting, and is required to issue its findings by 13 December.
