Police 'prepared for protests' ahead of Donald Trump's state visit

Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK will be a more closed affair than other events, police have said – with much taking place outside of the public gaze.

The President of the United States and First Lady Melania Trump will be guests at Windsor Castle from Wednesday, September 17 to Thursday, September 18, hosted by His Majesty King Charles III.

This also coincides with the interment of the late Duchess of Kent at Windsor Castle.

In a media briefing today (September 15), the Gold Commander for the force’s policing operation, Assistant Chief Constable Christian Bunt, discussed the security operations in force.

As well as previously announced airspace restrictions, and a drones unit to keep an eye on the skies, there will be a significant police presence on the ground, operating across a variety of units and multiple police forces.

There will be neighbourhood policing teams, armed and unarmed officers, mounted patrols and marine units.

Asked about Mr Trump’s own security detail, and whether they will hold the right to carry guns, Ass Ch Con Bunt said he could not comment on their arrangements.

He did say that UK police retain primary responsibility for armed protection, and that there is a ‘comprehensive’ firearms plan.

Given some of the strong feelings surrounding Mr Trump’s visit, Thames Valley Police is ‘prepared to deal with any protests’.

“We have a duty and a long legacy in Thames Valley Police of facilitating peaceful protest,” said Ass Ch Con Bunt.

“[If] people want to come and protest, we’re not going to be directing them miles away out of Windsor. There’ll be places within Windsor in which they can have their peaceful protests.

“[But] any protest activity that is going to directly undermine or threaten a security operation or public safety, we would have to deal with that positively.”

During the state visit, ‘there will be no public-facing elements’ and public visibility will be limited; for example, an open carriage is expected within the Castle grounds, but it is ‘unlikely’ this will be visible from public areas.

Members of the public have also noticed the greater height of the barriers along the Long Walk, which stand out compared to barriers installed for Royal and similar events previously.

This is to keep a ‘sterile area’, said Ass Ch Con Bunt – a police term for a space that has been cleared of people, objects, or potential threats so it can be kept under control.

Several journalists asked questions about the low public visibility, and whether this had any relationship to international security concerns arising from recent extreme events.

On September 10, Charlie Kirk, an American conservative activist and commentator, was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.

Asked if the news of his death had impacted police security decisions, Ass Ch Con Bunt stressed that the more private nature of the state visit had not been a decision by police.

Rather, it was a decision made by Buckingham Palace and the Royal household working with the US and UK governments – and it was TVP’s role to facilitate these arrangements.

Because of this more enclosed visit, people will be able to move ‘pretty freely’ around Windsor town centre during the state visit, in spite of the heightened security, Ass Ch Con Bunt said.

“You’ve seen that in previous state visits, we’ve had to use hostile vehicle mitigation at certain points because it’s town centres being used for the state drive,” he said.

“That’s not the case with this visit because it’s all within the Windsor [Castle] grounds. [That said] we’ve got the capability to put road closures on if we need them.”

Police are still certainly expecting a very large number of people to show up in Windsor town centre and Castle area – and there is therefore ‘a significant policing and security operation’.

This will include ‘a considerable number of specialist officers’ and covert resources, as well as ‘highly visible’ policing.

TVP has deployed Project Servator, a policing tactic used ‘to disrupt criminal activity and hostile reconnaissance’ by deploying ‘unpredictable police patrols.’

“We have considered and planned for just about every foreseeable eventuality,” said Ass Ch Con Bunt.

He wished to apologise in advance to the public for any inconvenience caused to the public by police security measures.

“We have done our best to keep these to a minimum and we will be looking to return the area to normality as soon as possible,” he said.

He added: “The public are our additional eyes and ears on the ground.

“I would like to encourage the public to report any suspicious or concerning behaviour to either a police officer on the ground, or to call our 101 or our 999 services.”

Outside of these operations, it’s ‘business as usual’ and normal service delivery within the Thames Valley policing area, Ass Ch Con Bunt added.