Delegates express relief after Trump shooting, excitement upon Milwaukee arrival for RNC

MILWAUKEE - In the terminal of the Wisconsin's major international airport on Sunday morning, Jennifer Friend stood near the information booth in her white and gold Make America Great Again hat.

Signs throughout the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport terminal welcomed visitors to the city for the Republican National Convention and Friend, an alternate delegate from Florida, said she was excited and "a little bit nervous," for her visit to Milwaukee.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Friend turned on her television in her Alachua County, Florida home and saw the news Saturday night that an assassination attempt had been made against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Friend, who has been to Trump rallies before, said she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“I just got tears in my eyes,” she said.

But like Friend, other Republican National Convention attendees that spoke with the USA Today Network at the airport on Sunday morning said they were excited to arrive in the Wisconsin city for the convention and were not worried about safety in Milwaukee after the shooting at the Pennsylvania rally. Most delegates said they were grateful that Trump was not further injured and looked forward to hearing from the former president later in the week.

“I’m not apprehensive at all,” said Clif Vicars, an alternate delegate from Johnson City, Tennessee.

Friend said she was excited to learn of Trump’s pick for vice president. Her only safety concern was potential protesters in Milwaukee, she said.

“I’m feeling good,” Friend said. “I don’t really get scared. I keep to myself.”

Daren Struiksma traveled to Milwaukee Sunday morning from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for his first Republican National Convention. He said he was excited to be in Milwaukee, but had nearly collapsed when he heard the news of the assassination attempt against Trump Saturday evening.

“I didn’t think this would ever [happen],” he said, “but it’s the world we live in now.”

More: This election was already shattering norms. Then the Trump rally shooting happened.

Rachel Gunther, a long-time Trump supporter, was packing for her flight to Milwaukee when she learned the news.

“Fear, shock," and "sadness,” was going through her head, she told USA TODAY.

Gunther sported a shirt bedazzled in rhinestones spelling out the introduction to the U.S. Constitution along with a red, white and blue straw hat.

The delegate from Long Beach, California said her excitement for the RNC isn’t muted by Saturday’s events. This will be her third convention and Gunther said it will be history-making.

“This is going to be the last time President Trump will be accepting the nomination,” she said.

More: Trump survives assassination attempt, when was the last one on a presidential candidate?

A U.S. president hasn’t been the victim of an assassination attempt in over 50 years, let alone held a party convention just says after surviving one. Gunther said she wanted to hear from Trump directly how he felt after the rally in Pennsylvania.

The 67-year-old said that she’s glad she heard about the news before watching the widely circulated video depicting the attack, fearing that her reaction would’ve been more emotional.

The graphic imagery shows blood coming from the right side of the former president’s head and him pumping his fist in the air before being taken down the stairs by Secret Service.

Jose Diaz, who traveled to Milwaukee from Puerto Rico, said he also became emotional when he heard the news from the rally in Pennsylvania.

“It was a matter of inches,” he said with tears in his eyes Sunday morning. “The possibility, it’s horrible. Thank God nothing happened.”

On her flight from Washington state into Milwaukee Sunday morning, Brenda Milewski thought of the song “Let there be peace on Earth,” a tune she remembers singing in fourth grade.

The song popped in her head as she was thinking about her upcoming week at the RNC and the assassination attempt on Trump yesterday in Pennsylvania.

Like other delegates that arrived at the airport Sunday morning, Milewski, 64, said she was not worried about security in Milwaukee for the convention. Even after the shooting at the Pennsylvania rally, Milewski said she was confident and excited going into the RNC knowing Trump is the party’s nominee.

“We’re excited that somebody’s willing to fight the good fight,” Milewski said. “We’re excited that somebody who got shot in the ear somewhere, we don’t know where exactly, but he is still determined to stand up and fight.”

— Brittany Carloni covers state government and politics for IndyStar. Sam Woodward is an election reporting fellow for USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: RNC delegates arrive in Milwaukee, grateful for Trump's safety