Officials in Palm Beach, Florida last weekend announced road closures as part of increased security around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate following the recent assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In a July 18 alert posted to the Town of Palm Beach website, officials said that starting on Saturday, July 20, South Ocean Boulevard would be closed at the intersection with South County Road and that only residents with “proper identification” would be granted access.
According to city officials, the decision was made by the US Secret Service to enhance security measures around Mar-a-Lago and “Secret Service-protected persons.”
The road closures would remain in effect until the general election in November, “at a minimum,” and would include the traffic circle where Southern Boulevard connects to South Ocean Boulevard.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told GulfLive that the sheriff’s office has been providing additional security to Mar-a-Lago “all along” and remained in constant contact with the Secret Service.
Sheriff Bradshaw said that when Donald Trump returns to his Mar-a-Lago estate, the sheriff’s office would “ramp up security” where needed, adding that “we’re very good at doing what we’re doing.”
The news comes as embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was poised to appear before the House Oversight Committee to address the agency’s failings during a July 22 hearing.
Cheatle was confronted by both Republican and Democrat members over the Secret Service failures that led to the former president nearly getting assassinated on July 13.
While the director acknowledged that the assassination attempt was the “most significant operational failure” the Secret Service experienced in decades and took responsibility for it, she offered no indication that she was prepared to step down.
Cheatle faced calls for her resignation from even Democrat members on the committee, including Ranking Member Jamie Raskin who described her relationship with the Secret Service as “irretrievable” and said that she had “lost the confidence of Congress.”
Cheatle announced the following day that she would be stepping down as Secret Service director.
