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Secret Service will amp up security at upcoming Pennsylvania Trump rally due to 'copycat' fears: experts

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Secret Service will amp up security at upcoming Pennsylvania Trump rally due to 'copycat' fears: experts

Former President  Donald Trump is slated to speak in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, about 200 miles from the venue where an attempt was made on his life earlier this month. Experts tell Fox News Digital that security measures will be “amped up” in light of scrutiny facing the U.S. Secret Service and the potential for a “copycat” killer.

“You have the expression ‘copycats.’ They say, ‘Look at the attention that [would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks] got,’ and they say, ‘I want that attention,’” Kevin Maloy, a former special agent with the State Department, told Fox News Digital.

“I’m sure the Secret Service have amped up their efforts because, you know, you do have the fear a little bit of a copycat out there. He got that close to ultimate success that easily – maybe I could do something,” he continued.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY

Former President Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13 during Pennsylvania rally. (Trump Campaign Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Gene Petrino, who served as the SWAT commander for Florida’s Plantation Police Department for 26 years and is an expert on active shooter incidents, told Fox News Digital that there is “always a concern for copycat shooters,” and that “a recent attack would most definitely tighten the security risk and response.”

The fear of another attempt isn’t unfounded. Within the three weeks before John F. Kennedy Jr. was shot dead by Lee Harvey Oswald, there had been assassination plots against him thwarted in Chicago and Miami, according to interviews with former Secret Service agents conducted by CBS Miami and ABC Chicago. 

The GOP nominee will take the stage at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg, which has over one million square feet of indoor floor space, according to its website.

TRUMP TO RETURN TO PENNSYLVANIA FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

More than 12,000 people piled into Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20, 2024, to see former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance at their first joint rally, and the first since Trump was struck by a would-be assassin’s bullet but survived. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

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Pennsylvania State and Capitol Police will assist the Secret Service in securing the venue, State Police told Fox News Digital, while the local Harrisburg Police Department will cover traffic control surrounding the venue.

“You would think that [an indoor venue] would be easier to secure,” said Maloy, who protected former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry. “But the potential size of the crowd jammed into the space, especially after the Butler event, could pose its own concerns with visibility.”

Security sweeps of the stadium have likely already taken place or are underway, Maloy said, to determine potential security vulnerabilities and locations where a weapon or explosive could potentially be stashed. 

“We have already seen a big difference in [Trump’s] security detail at the RNC. For his rally, I would expect to see the same thing,” Petrino said. “I think you will see more distance between Trump and the crowd, and a wide pathway as he approaches the stage. I would be shocked if there weren’t drones providing aerial coverage, multiple sniper teams covering multiple angles, and even K-9 teams.” 

SECRET SERVICE’S TRUMP RALLY SECURITY FAILURE COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WITH ‘EYES IN THE SKIES’: REP GUEST

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Butler, Pennsylvania, crowd at former President Trump’s rally (Fox News)

“I think he will not spend a lot of time getting on and off stage,” Petrino added.

Arriving and departing a venue are “one of the most vulnerable times for a protectee,” Maloy said, because their timing and movement are predictable. 

“You want to consider alternatives to that main entrance – an underground parking lot, a back or side door, something with a back or side view,” Maloy said. “If you can’t do that, you want to tent the area so that you can obscure vision to that area.”

Inside the venue, Maloy noted that there are catwalks, balconies and boxed seating that could be ideal vantage points for a potential shooter, and said that “access to these area should be controlled.” The maintenance catwalks, he said, would be an ideal position for Secret Service counter snipers. 

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He also noted that an evacuation strategy for the former president will be laid out, with a motorcade ready for him outside in the event that another assassination attempt takes place. 

Thousands lined the streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 20, 2024, to attend former President Donald Trump’s first rally since the failed assassination attempt against him. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

The close call in Butler, Maloy said, was either caused by “incompetency or complacency” within the Secret Service, but that since then, he has “[seen] lessons learned from the Butler incident.”

“Their pride was not only dinged, it was hammered,” Maloy said of the Secret Service. “They are a professional agency, overall. Everyone stole the Secret Service’s protection book.”

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“Whether it was incompetence on some individuals or a series of individuals or complacency setting in, I don’t know the answer to that – that’s what everyone is trying to figure out,” he continued.

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Northeast

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani set to earn nearly $260K, about 80% more than his prior salary

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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani set to earn nearly 0K, about 80% more than his prior salary

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to earn nearly $260,000 a year, in line with the salary paid to his predecessor.

The figure is based on public payroll records showing that former Mayor Eric Adams earned $258,750 in total pay.

Mamdani previously earned about $142,000 as a state assemblyman, according to Ballotpedia, an increase of roughly 80%.

Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on whether he plans to accept the full salary or donate a portion of it.

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NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO TEST MAMDANI’S PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC VISION

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his inaugural address Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, outside City Hall. (Fox News/Pool)

New York City consistently ranks among the most expensive cities in the country, with housing costs far above the national average.

An annual salary of about $260,000 would place Mamdani among the city’s top earners, more than three times New York City’s median household income of roughly $80,000, according to the most recent Census Bureau data.

Mamdani posted on his Instagram account in December that he and his wife Rama would move from their home in Astoria, Queens, to Gracie Mansion, the official, rent-free residence of the mayor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, in January.

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MAMDANI DISPUTES ANTISEMITISM DEFINITION AMID BLOWBACK FROM JEWISH COMMUNITY ABOUT DAY 1 EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Gracie Mansion in New York, on Sept. 26, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)

“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” he wrote.

Mamdani was sworn in Jan. 1 as the 112th mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim to hold the office.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after speaking during his inauguration ceremony, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)

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“City Hall will deliver an agenda of safety, affordability and abundance—where government looks and lives like the people it represents, never flinches in the fight against corporate greed, and refuses to cower before challenges that others have deemed too complicated,” Mamdani said in his inaugural address.

“In so doing, we will provide our own answer to that age-old question—who does New York belong to? Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it.’”

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Pittsburg, PA

Hemingway’s Cafe in Oakland closing after more than four decades

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Hemingway’s Cafe in Oakland closing after more than four decades



A longtime staple near Pitt’s campus is closing its doors after more than four decades of business in Oakland.

Hemingway’s Cafe announced Thursday that it will be closing for good in May after more than 40 years along Forbes Avenue in the heart of Oakland. 

“Since opening in 1983, Hemingway’s has been more than just a bar – it’s been a home, a meeting place, and an Oakland staple for generations of students, alumni, locals, and friends at the heart of the University of Pittsburgh,” the bar said.

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Hemingway’s Cafe in Oakland has announced it will be closing for good in May after more than four decades of business near the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.

KDKA Photojournalist Brian Smithmyer


The bar said while they are sad to be closing, they’re also grateful for the decades of memories, laughter, friendship, and traditions over the years.

“Thank you for making Hemingway’s what it has been for over four decades,” the bar said.

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A final closing date for Hemingway’s hasn’t been announced.



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