Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, where he resides after leaving the White House, on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, in Palm Beach, Florida. The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami announced new restricted “security zones” in the water surrounding Mar-a-Lago that it will enforce whenever Trump or other protected visitors are in town. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images/TNS)
PALM BEACH, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami announced new restricted “security zones” in the water surrounding former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago that it will enforce whenever he or other protected visitors are in town.
The increased security comes a month after the assassination attempt on Trump during a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. In the weeks following, the U.S. Secret Service came under fire for security lapses that allowed the shooter to gain access to a nearby roof before striking the former president in the ear, killing an attendee and injuring two others. The Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned in the aftermath of the shooting.
The Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies will station boats displaying flashing blue lights around the three zones, which encompass broad swaths of the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, “when persons under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service are present or expected to be present,” the agency said in a news release Friday.
Officers will prohibit people from stopping in the two furthermost zones while the middle zone will be off limits entirely without permission.
The crews will also broadcast a notice to boaters about the zones on VHF channel 16. The zones will be enforced between Aug. 19 and Nov. 30.
The three zones are divided into west, center and east:
—The west zone: Beginning on the west side of Mar-a-Lago, this zone includes the waters of Lake Worth Lagoon from surface to bottom, stretching north along the Intracoastal Waterway from the southern tip of Everglades Island to about 1,000 yards south of the Southern Boulevard Bridge and extending from the western shoreline to Fisherman Island. Any boats moving through the west zone must maintain a steady speed without slowing or stopping in the zone.
—The center zone: This is the most restrictive zone, beginning where the west zone leaves off. It also includes the waters of Lake Worth Lagoon from surface to bottom, stretching north from the southern tip of Everglades Island to about 1,000 yards south of the Southern Boulevard Bridge, and from Fisherman Island to the eastern shoreline. No boat or person can enter the center zone “without obtaining permission from the Coast Guard or a designated representative.”
—The east zone: On the other side of Mar-a-Lago, this zone includes the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from surface to bottom, from Banyan Road in the north to Ocean View Road in the south and from shore to about 1,000 yards east. Any boats moving through the east zone must maintain a steady speed without slowing or stopping in the zone.
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