GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WXMI) — Former President Donald Trump and his Vice Presidential pick J.D. Vance don't arrive in Grand Rapids until Saturday, but you might not guess that based on the line already forming outside Van Andel Arena.
The downtown Grand Rapids venue will host Trump's first campaign rally since he survived an assassination attempt last Saturday.
Trump held a rally there in 2019. The arena's website shows the venue can host 12,000 people. In 2019, there was hardly an empty seat inside.
Looks like that history will repeat itself itself again in 2024, with Trump supporters showing up as early as Friday morning.
People camping out ahead of time are not the only ones with early preparations for this major event.
For more on that, FOX 17, WXYZ's Grand Rapids sister station, spoke with Lewis Langham, a retired Michigan State Police detective and lieutenant who worked with the agency for 25 years, nine of which were spent as a liaison to the Secret Service.
Langham said before the former president's arrival, agents have already been in town throughout the week securing the site.
He said several meetings are scheduled between the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement agencies to lay out a full plan.
Collectively, they set up air support with helicopters, motorcycle support for the motorcade and provide K-9 services with bomb-sniffing dogs.
Langham said along the 14.6-mile route from Gerald R. Ford International Airport to Van Andel Arena downtown, from I-96 to I-196 to US-131, Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials will be in position several hours before the airplane even lands.
Roads won't be blocked until about an hour before they depart the airport, and it's not just the freeways and highways that'll be shut down — overpasses as well.
“That roadway will be blocked by one or two uniformed police officers. So, every intersection is blocked off. A vehicle cannot enter into the motorcade path from the left, from the right or from any road from behind or in front when the motorcade is traveling," Langham said.
For anyone who'll be traveling in that area during the motorcade's passing, Langham said you might be "wondering what is going on? And, when am I going to get out of this traffic? So that's going to be one of your concerns, especially if you really have someplace to be, but it's necessary, as we obviously really know now. It's necessary that these precautions be the taken.”
Langham said the moment Trump and Vance pass a particular point, that road will be reopened.
As for the extra precautions, Langham said the manpower might not be doubled, but there will be a significant increase in the security assistance for the event.
“United States Secret Service will be prepared," Langham said. "They will use every resource they can to make sure this goes off without a hitch. I mean, it's never good when violence occurs. It's never good when candidates speak about violence. It's never good when a candidate, any candidate in any party, is assaulted, injured or (receives) threats against their life. It’s just not what this country is all about. I think all of us have to, you know, take a step back and think about the things that are said and done during these campaigns. I think that, you know, we'll come together as Americans in the end.”
