Extremely Tight Security of Sec Service, Snipers and Cops, Lots of Cops
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| Former President Donald Trump meets with barbers and patrons inside Knockout Barbershop on Castle Hill Avenue in a video uploaded to social media. -Photo by X |
By David Greene
Bronx Voice
October 18, 2024
BRONX - Several teams of United States Secret Service sharpshooters were stationed on several rooftops as a small army of NYPD police officers and Emergency Service Unit personnel flooded the sidewalk and street as former president Donald Trump made an unscheduled visit to a Castle Hill barbershop—just days before the U.S. Presidential election.
Dozens of police officers stand between a small crowd and former president Donald Trump’s motorcade as he paid a visit to the Knockout Barbershop on Castle Hill Avenue on Thursday, October 17.—Photo by David Greene
Trump made the unexpected visit to the Knockout Barbershop, at 1189 Castle Hill Avenue on October 17.
One woman in the growing crowd was seen arguing with at least two Trump supporters, before more Trump supporters arrived, one carrying a flag. On one side-- an American flag, and on the other side was a Trump flag proclaiming, “Make America Great Again.”
Security was heightened exponentially since Trump appeared in Crotona Park on May 23 and two apparent assassination attempts in Butler, PA., on July 13 and at his golf course in West Palm Beach, FL., on September 15.
On this day the Secret Service protected the barbershop and the tent where some vehicles of Trump’s motorcade pulled into. Police flooded the streets, shops and sidewalks for blocks. Sharpshooters were on several rooftops, an NYPD helicopter circled the area and several drones were observed over Castle Hill Avenue.
A crowd of more than two dozen journalists from around the city were set up behind metal barricades at the corner of Castle Hill Avenue and Gleason Avenue. A Secret Service agent with a bomb-sniffing K-9, asked if his dog could sniff their cameras and camera bags. They obliged.
Two journalists had waited for several hours hoping to get a soundbite or a photo of the former president, when one wondered if Trump would walk over and talk to the reporters, when one asked, “Will he do it?”
The second reporter responded, “They won’t let him, he’s a sitting target here.”
After his visit Trump jumped back into his vehicle parked inside the tent and left without waving to the crowd or talking to journalists.
Videos posted from inside Knockout Barbershop to X showed Trump talking-to patrons and barbers inside the shop. For about an hour Trump held a mini-town hall with Fox and Friends host Lawrence Jones as he talked about small businesses and the economy.
Shortly after his visit there was a still-unconfirmed report of a person who had fallen or jumped from Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Also, today an independent review was released about the July 13 assassination attempt. In a statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, he stated, “We will fully consider the Panel’s recommendations and are taking the actions needed to advance the Secret Service’s protection mission.”
Mayorkas continued, “These actions will be responsive not only to the security failures that led to the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt, but, importantly, to what the Independent Review Panel describes as systematic and foundational issues that underline those failures.”
The Secret Service also issued a statement on the report, that read in part, “We are not waiting to act. We have already significantly improved our readiness, operational and organizational communications and implemented enhanced protective operations for the former president and other protectees.”
The statement continued, “This includes making changes to better integrate with our state and local law enforcement partners and augmenting our protection with support from the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies.”
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