Maryland law enforcement officers help beef up RNC security as state leaders call for unity
BALTIMORE -- Maryland lawmakers across the political spectrum have denounced the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend and called for unity.
In the meantime, officers from several Maryland law enforcement agencies, including in Carroll and Prince George's counties, are in Milwaukee to provide security at this week's Republican National Convention.
Lawmakers react
Representative Andy Harris, Maryland's only Republican in the U.S. Congress, posted he is "praying for President Trump, his family, the victims and those injured at the rally and for the future of our country."
Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat, spoke before the NAACP national convention on Monday.
"Right now, I know we all stand together praying for Donald Trump's healing," Moore told the crowd.
The governor continued, "Political violence is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it now. We will not tolerate it tomorrow. We will not tolerate it ever."
Former Republican governor of Maryland and current U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan on Monday called the country a "tinderbox" at a "tipping point."
Hogan posted on social media, "All of us have a choice to make. We can continue to go down this dark road of extreme, toxic politics, hatred and violence, or we can return to civility and respect. We've got to stop with the rabid tribalism, dividing our country into red and blue teams. We must get back to the red, white and blue."
Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat running against Hogan, posted, "As a nation, we must come together and condemn this kind of political violence. It has no place in America. Our prayers are with President Trump."
Mayor Scott on guns
Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott spoke about the weapon used in the attempted assassination, which law enforcement sources told CBS News was a semiautomatic AR-style rifle that was legally purchased and registered to the shooter's father.
"We have to look deep and have deep conversations again because violence happens, gun violence happens in this country every single day and no one—not even a former president—can be separated from that," Scott said. "The average American citizen should not be able to possess an AR-15. You need four months of training in the military to use one, but we let anybody just go out and buy one."
Maryland officers at RNC
In the wake of the attempted assassination, security has been beefed up at the Republican National Convention.
That includes 15 members of the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, who told WJZ that deputies are in Milwaukee as part of a National Emergency Management request, along with other law enforcement in Maryland.
Political analysts say it is time to tone down the rhetoric.
"These sorts of things shouldn't happen in our society," said Larry Sabato, from the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "And we've said it over and over. We've said it for decades, every time one of these assassination attempts occurs, and everybody agrees, and we need to lower the temperature of the rhetoric. And then two weeks later, you don't even know what's happened because everything goes back to the way it was. That's human nature, unfortunately, and we're going to have to live with it."
Attempted assassination in Maryland
This kind of political violence has happened in Maryland before, back in 1972, when presidential candidate George Wallace survived an assassination attempt.
Wallace was shot at close range while surrounded by a crowd after a speech in Laurel.
His shooter was released from prison in 2007.
Pennsylvania witnesses speak out
Those who witnessed the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump are still stunned by what they saw but have hope for a better future.
"You've got anger afterwards because now you're just mad. Who did this? Why? When does it stop?" witness Donna Hutz said.
Her son, Joe Hutz, who helped protect her after the gunfire rang out, said, "The whole purpose of America is about a peaceful passage of power between Democrats and Republicans. Every four years, we have to vote, and if we want change, we get that change peacefully. And this, this is not the way to go about it."
