Organizers of the National Eucharistic Congress emphasized their safety plans Sunday, after an assassination attempt this weekend against former president Donald Trump.
“The National Eucharistic Congress has been planning for a safe and secure event for all attendees for the past two years,” Congress chairman Bishop Andrew Cozzens said in a July 14 statement.
“We have retained a nationally recognized security firm who has worked in close coordination with local, state, and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies throughout. We will continue to be very attentive to security needs for all,” Cozzens added.
To better understand the security plans for the Congress, The Pillar spoke with Steve Garcia, the principal at 2s Safety Solutions, a company contracted by the Eucharistic Congress to coordinate all security efforts.
Garcia, a former member of the Colorado State Patrol, has been director of corporate security for the PGA Tour, and has long-time experience managing security for large public events.
While Garcia told The Pillar that he was not able to discuss specific details of Congress security protocols — numbers of officers or tactical placements — he did discuss the process of planning for a safe event in Indianapolis.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you give us an overview of the kind of security planning that precedes an event like the National Eucharistic Congress?
What evaluations and assessments do you begin with?
I think that it’s important to note that the planning for this doesn't happen overnight. It’s been an 18-month process, and it’s been a partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement entities to include the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indiana State Police, as well as local private security companies, which have all been coordinating and communicating for the last 18 months in preparation for this event.
We acknowledge at NEC that we would be unable to adequately secure an event of this magnitude without all of those partners, and so we have coordinated and developed plans and processes that have been in place now for about the last six months.
In May, we completed a “tabletop exercise,” which is a common exercise used to stress the plans on purpose, to test them.
The Department of Homeland Security came in and basically did scenario-based tabletop exercises, and those law enforcement entities which I already mentioned all had a role in that.
We talked through situations over our tabletop: “If this happens, what do we do? If that happens, how do we respond?”
Members of the National Eucharistic Congress staff participated in that, as well as law enforcement agencies, and we worked through different strategies, for issues or events that could happen, and we tested the strategies and plans that we had in place. I feel like it was a successful outcome.
We exercised all of the “what-ifs?”, for lack of a better term, to include everything from weather to a terrorism event.
We’re ready. We have the plans and processes in place to address anything that’s going to come our way.
Beyond the security visible to Congress participants — the people checking credentials, or the uniformed cops on the scene — I imagine the security network for the event is more robust than what can be seen.
Can you describe that?
The first thing is that we’ve been coordinating with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence components, and I can safely say there is no known threat to the National Eucharistic Congress, or any other member of the Catholic Church who will be attending the NEC this year.
We had a threat assessment conducted by [the FBI and Department of Homeland Security]. They are monitoring threats and intelligence at the highest levels of the government at this point in time, as well as local entities.
We obviously monitor protests and any events that rise to our attention which could have impact on NEC. That also includes weather-related events; we've been monitoring the weather for the procession.
We want to ensure the safest environment for all participants of the NEC.
Hundreds of police officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indiana State Police, as well as neighboring jurisdictions that are being brought in to secure NEC. In addition, we’ve employed three different private security companies that will be supporting the venues of NEC, by checking credentials, being vigilant at entrances and gates, and those types of things.
So I feel like we have a coordinated effort, from a lot of entities, to ensure the most safe environment for all participants.
The assassination attempt against Donald Trump on Saturday obviously means the prospect of volatility across our country. A lot of people are anxious, and I suspect a lot of people thought back to the volatility and violence in the summer of 2020.
Does the assassination attempt against Donald Trump change anything for your security matrix?
Obviously, we pay attention to local, national and global events and how that can impact the events at NEC or the presence of protest groups or criminals at NEC. But to answer your question directly: No. That did not change any plans or processes or procedures that we have in place.
We have strategies in place to keep all participants of NEC safe and secure, and that did not elevate our posture because we already had an elevated posture, based upon ensuring that the 50,000 or 60,000 people coming will be kept safe.
In America today, there is always some possibility — albeit a low probability — of facing the prospect of a shooting of some kind, or some other security event. That could happen, I think we all realize, even on a trip to the grocery store, that we can’t ever know what might happen, and there is a limit to things we can do to prepare for that.
But tell us some general tips for people anxious about the prospect of safety in a large crowd, during an event like the National Eucharistic Congress.
This is an important point. You go to a baseball game or a football game, or you go into a mall and — I was a state trooper in Colorado for 28 years, and I would tell my kids that when you go into any of these venues, you should pay attention to where the exits are.
You should pay attention to the security briefings provided at the beginning of an event — like if it’s a Nuggets game or a Bronco game, they always say: “Hey, these are the exits. In an emergency, exit here.”
In the event that something does happen, listen to the directions by security staff and law enforcement. They're going to provide you the best and safest route out of that venue.
Be vigilant of the things that are around you. People know when something is wrong. You've heard the term: “See something, say something.”
At NEC, we will have hundreds of security staff and law enforcement officers who will be visible to all participants: If you see something that you believe is out of place or does not make sense to you in regards to a security issue, please let someone know and we will address it immediately, and we'll be able to validate or address the situation.
What about the large procession that will go through Indianapolis as part of the Eucharistic Congress?
Probably in most cases, the most important safety tip for the procession is for people to drink a lot of water, because of the summer heat.
But what are the other things for people to be aware of with regard to safety, during a large procession like the NEC will have?
Well, we have a large law enforcement presence that is in place, and that is going to be blocking all of the streets. There’s road closures and hard barriers, so from a vehicle perspective it will be safe.
But definitely do drink a lot of water. We're looking to be really lucky in regards to the weather. I pulled the weather this morning and it looks like the high that day is 80, with a little cloud cover, which couldn’t be more ideal for this procession.
To me, that excites me, that hopefully we get a larger participation in the procession rather than having a hot 90 degree day.
With that being said, drink a lot of water, Pay attention to the weather, pay attention to where you're walking in large crowds of people, sometimes you can lose your bearing. So be aware of where you're at, the streets that you are, and then when you do travel or cross streets at the end of the procession, not all the streets will be blocked off, so pay attention to the rules of the road and the street signs.
There’ll be law enforcement officers to direct you at crosswalks and official crossings, so use those official crossings when returning to the convention center or to Lucas Oil Stadium at the end of the event.
You coordinate security for a lot of events, I know. You’re a Catholic, and I wonder if working on something like the National Eucharistic Congress has been personally encouraging in faith.
It’s been very rewarding.
I’m excited to see what bringing all of these Catholics together in the city of Indianapolis does for our faith, and what it does for the future of the Catholic Church.
I’m excited to see the joy that will come from the Eucharistic revival, and the Congress, and the procession.
I believe it’s been decades since there’s been a National Eucharistic Congress [in the U.S.] To see the monstrance traveling down the city streets of Indianapolis, and all of the pilgrims following along, and the reverence of the participants, is just going to be awe-inspiring.
I’m hopeful that it inspires others in the Catholic faith, and I hope that it inspires others to seek the Catholic faith when they see this, if they aren’t Catholic.
