From Reagan to Trump: How security has evolved for presidential candidates visiting Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Monday a delegate for Donald Trump compares the intense security he faces now to what the Secret Service demanded in Rochester 40 years ago.

Larry Staub is in Milwaukee right now, inside the Republican National Convention arena. Because of the assassination attempt on former President Trump Saturday, Staub says the security there is triple what he has seen before.

And that goes back to the Reagan visit to Rochester in 1984 at what is now the Blue Cross Arena.

A week before the election 40 years ago, President Reagan came to the War Memorial. He was there to accommodate the crowd because it was cold in November and the Secret Service wanted the president inside. And they arrived two weeks before to set it up.

“They thought that was a really secure place, they weren’t really into outdoor events and they felt that that could be secured the best,” Staub said.

Larry Staub was a young Republican in 1984 and one of the organizers of Reagan’s visit.

“Just to get him from the airport to the War Memorial, every bridge on 490 was closed, there were police on every one of those bridges, 490 was shut down so it was a clear path from the airport to the War Memorial,” Staub said.

“They basically told us how it was going to go, and I remember one of the agents saying… there’s going to be a lot of agents there but just remember, we’re there to protect one person,” Staub said.

Staub was also at Trump’s visit to Rochester in 2016 when he was a candidate. Now he’s in Milwaukee, his eighth national convention.

“And I’ve got to tell you, security is probably like triple what I’ve seen before,” Staub said. “The snipers were up on the rooftops, we had an armed homeland security officer ride on our bus from our hotel and checked everybody getting on.”

Reagan won New York in 1984. The last Republican candidate for president to do so. He won Monroe County by 50,000 votes. Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean reached out to the six local delegates for President Biden. They declined to talk about security at the Democratic convention until it starts in August.

The Democratic National Convention begins Monday, August 19.

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