Walz gets heightened security detail as vice presidential candidate

Richard Reeve KSTP

Walz gets heightened security detail as VP nominee

As a vice presidential candidate, Gov. Tim Walz, along with his wife Gwen, are now receiving U.S. Secret Service protection.

“As far as the Secret Service is concerned, he is actually now one of our protectees,” says Matthew Cybert, the Special Agent in Charge, at the Minnesota field office of the Secret Service.

For the governor, it’s a new level of security, above and beyond protection typically provided by the Minnesota State Patrol. Both agencies will be working in tandem to keep the Walz family safe.

“This is what’s called a candidate nominee protective detail,” explains Mike Olson, a former Secret Service agent who now runs a Minneapolis security firm.

At the governor’s temporary residence in St. Paul, the U.S. Secret Service, the State Patrol, and Homeland Security are all on watch — and there’s more to come.

“You can expect to see a significant security perimeter around Governor Walz’s house; there will be road closures,” Cybert notes. “It will be noticeably different, with an exceptional number of secret service agents, federal agents that will support us, and local law enforcement as well.”

With the election just three months away, there are signs of elevated security on the campaign trail as well.

Huge crowds, who showed up to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz in Eau Claire, had to walk miles past roadblocks to get to the event.

In St. Cloud, at a rally for former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance — also with long lines and large crowds — there was a highly visible police presence and metal detectors for anyone who wanted to go in.

“We’re going to be screening individuals coming into the event, and we will be worrying about individuals inside of that event,” Cybert notes. “If you have an outdoor event, we expand the security perimeter to wherever we need in order to effectively ensure the safety of the protectees.”

All of this comes after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

“There’s no question, it’s on everybody’s minds,” Olson says. “Nobody wants to be that group of agents that had this on their plate that day on July 13.”

In essence, the Walzes will be in a security bubble.

“He’s going to have a lot more people around him,” Olson explains. “He might find it a little bit more difficult to go out there and immediately connect with people, so to speak, without more logistics and preparation being put into place.”

Which made us wonder about the Minnesota State Fair: Would the governor be able attend with all this ramped-up security?

The Secret Service says law enforcement has been meeting for months about the possibility of campaigning politicians going to the fair. A spokesperson says those plans are in flux, but that the Secret Service is prepared.

Meanwhile, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe is vowing to increase the number of security details, improve on-site communications, and expand aerial surveillance at campaign events.

“You’ll have a lot more levels of supervision that will double-check, triple-check things, unlike before, just because of what happened on July 13,” Olson says. “The Secret Service owns that, and every agent and supervisor in the agency is going to be thinking about that long and hard as they move forward.”