Trump rally in Michigan making some in the small host town ‘uneasy’

‘I have no recourse but to issue him a ticket when this thing starts,’ Washington Township assistant fire chief said ahead of Trump’s rally

A political rally, being headlined by Donald Trump this weekend, is forcing some regional council members in the Michigan host town to feel uneasy, with one official noting the strain the event could have on the surrounding area might lead to “tickets” being issued.

“This is a heavy lift for our department. It is a stretch for us to make this happen and I am not comfortable with it,” said Brian Tyrell, the fire department chief for Washington Township, Michigan. “We are very uneasy for using this building for something it was not intended to be used for,” the chief added, Macomb Daily reported.

The event, being held at the Michigan Stars Sports Center, is the same location that the former president used in the town back in April 2018, but back then it was called Total Soccer.

At that time, the assistant fire chief and fire marshal Rob Schmelzer noted, the occupancy load for the event space was between 1,500 and 1,600 people. The actual 2018 event drew 5,760 inside with an estimated 10,000 crowding just outside the building’s doors.

Because of this, Mr Schmeltzer explained, they were forced to “get creative” with the fire code, with members of his brigade being forced to be on standby for the entire duration of the rally.

“I cannot allow that building to be used that way again. I do not support this being hosted here,” Mr Schmelzer told the board. “I have no recourse but to issue him a ticket when this thing starts.”

The fire brigade members weren’t the only ones voicing their anxieties ahead of the Saturday rally to the board.

The township’s planning and zoning director, Dana Berschback, expressed her discontent about how the application for the event did not “go through any process”, while the treasurer raised concerns about the amount of parking that would be available, noting that the temporary parking agreement for cars to park on township owned land was not “drivable” and as a result, “things could get ugly quickly”.

The Macomb Daily reported that the county sheriff’s office is aware of the potential traffic overflows from the event and will have extra personnel on hand along with barriers.

At this year’s 2 April rally, Mr Trump will be headlining for the local Republican candidates running for office, all of whom have received the “Make America Great Again” president’s endorsement and full backing.

Michigan is shaping up to be a key battleground for testing out Mr Trump’s sway in the impending 2024 campaign, as he’s already endorsed 10 state legislative candidates, more than any other state he’s backing ballots in.

His ability to get said candidates elected, or not, in the November midterms in the swing state, which the former president lost when it flipped to Joe Biden in 2020, will also serve to showcase whether he’s done enough in the last two years to regain the trust of Michigan Republicans to run a successful re-election campaign.

Saturday’s rally is set to kickoff with entertainment at 2pm, with speakers taking the stage at 4pm and finally closing the night will be Mr Trump, who is scheduled to go on at 7pm.