Sen. Johnson urges Secret Service to push protest zone farther away from Republican convention

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Sunday said he is asking the Secret Service to push the protest zone farther away from the Republican National Convention in an attempt to prevent conflict at the Milwaukee event this summer.

Republicans have pushed for the Secret Service to expand the security perimeter, which currently is a block away from the convention building, to include the nearby Pere Marquette Park where a protest is expected to be held during the July convention.

"You know, there’s no control of that park. There’s no fences around it so it’s a gathering site for all kinds of potential mayhem. So, this is a very obvious concern. It ought to be corrected," Johnson said on NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday."

Johnson is not the only Republican official to express concerns about the perimeter at the RNC.

"As you know, this year has been a very challenging one for protests in the United States. We must all take seriously that tensions are high and do our best to balance the right to express dissent while also keeping Convention attendees as safe as possible," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a letter last week to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

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