Milwaukee locals fume after RNC  lockdown following Trump shooting

MILWAUKEE — Law enforcement is tightening down security in Milwaukee in advance of the Republican National Convention following the assassination attempt on its presumed nominee Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Restrictions on pedestrian access to a 20-block area surrounding Fiserv Forum had been set to go into effect at 6 p.m. central time Sunday under the operational security plan developed by the Secret Service, but authorities moved up implementation of the pedestrian security restrictions. By noon on Sunday, residents and convention vendors were greeted with 10-foot metal security fencing along both sides of West McKinley Avenue, one block north of Fiserv Forum.

A vendor who identified himself as “A-Train” — owner of Motorcycles, Bars & Cigars — found himself trying to figure out a way to get through the security fencing so he could sell cigars and T-shirts at a barbecue restaurant inside the security perimeter.

“This is turning into a s***show since they tried to kill the former commander-in-chief,” A-Train said, as he wheeled a luggage case full of his wares down the sidewalk.

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A man who said he lives on a street north of the perimeter said he hadn’t received any notice that the security restrictions were being moved up, and he had planned to catch a ride from a friend with a car who was going to pick him up on the street. Now, he found a fence blocking his access to the vehicular traffic on West McKinley Avenue.

Delegates have been arriving in Milwaukee over the weekend, and Trump is expected to accept the party nomination on Thursday evening.

A-Train said he was told he wouldn’t need a credential to get inside the security perimeter, and eventually he found an unmanned gate in the security fencing, and was able to enter without any problem.

Enhanced security was also apparent outside Fiserv Forum as television media crews set up equipment. Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations patrolled a corridor fashioned from bike racks between the arena and media outposts set up outside a row of bars across the plaza.

A Homeland Security Investigations agent patrols a security corridor in front of Fiserv Forum.Jordan Green