On one hand, the suggestion that Donald Trump use indoor venues for his rallies — or at least enclosed stadiums — probably occurred to everyone at about 7 pm ET on July 13th. Obviously, security issues would be less complicated by enclosed venues, and crowd control, metal detection, and secure egress under attack could get planned more effectively.
On the other hand, do we really want to give the Secret Service a kind of Peter Principle* veto power on political rallies — especially after the breathtaking incompetence on display in Butler County, PA? Somehow, the failure to secure an easily accessible roofline 130 yards from the stage doesn’t sound like an esoteric point of failure for a supposedly world-class personal-protection operation, nor a signal of indoor excellence:
Secret Service officials encouraged Donald Trump’s campaign to stop scheduling large outdoor rallies…
