UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Days after Donald Trump’s campaign rally on Long Island, security is high around Nassau Coliseum again today for a visit by India’s prime minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak before an estimated crowd of 13,000 people Sunday night at the arena in Uniondale.
A private Indian American group invited Modi to deliver remarks, though critics say Modi has advanced divisive policies targeting Indian Muslims.
Nassau County officials said people must have a ticket to enter the coliseum for Modi’s speech, but others can watch on large screens outside.
Protests are expected in a “free speech zone” outside the coliseum.
County executive defends cost of heightened security
Security in the area will be similar to former President Trump’s rally at the coliseum on Sept. 18.
Though Nassau County Democrats called for a federal investigation into taxpayer funding to secure the Trump event, Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman said it’s worth it to ramp up security again for Modi.
“Our hotels are full because of Prime Minister Modi’s visit. There are people that are coming from all over the Tri-State Area. There are people that are traveling far and wide to come here,” Blakeman said.
The Trump rally cost $1 million just for police overtime, according to the Nassau County Minority Office of Budget’s review.
Trump rally security was “airtight”
Alex Brandon / AP
Extraordinary security measures were in place for one Trump’s first rallies since the apparent assassination attempt in Florida. The measures — seen and unseen — included sharpshooters, bomb-sniffing dogs, helicopters and undercover agents in the crowd.
“For this event, we have to keep it airtight … All working together, our federal, state and law enforcement and Homeland Security partners. This will be a very, very safe place,” Blakeman said beforehand.
There were social media reports of explosives being found near the coliseum, but police said they were false.
A person who may have been training a bomb-detecting dog nearby was detained and questioned, police said.
“We are going to win New York,” Trump says at Long Island rally
Former President Trump vowed to win New York, which President Joe Biden carried by 23 points in 2020, during his 90-minute campaign speech at Nassau Coliseum on Sept. 18.
In his remarks, Trump mentioned the decay of the city he was born in and promised to reinstate the local tax deduction known as SALT. During Trump’s presidency, his administration backed legislation to cap it.
“Saving thousands of dollars for residents of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other high-cost states,” Trump told the crown in Uniondale.
The former president doubled-down on his attacks on immigrants and referenced recent reports of rape in Queens and Brooklyn, while vowing to deport migrants, some of whom are in the U.S. with legal temporary status.
“I’ve been talking about them for five years now,” Trump said. “I said if you let them in, it will be hell. They are vicious, violent criminals that are being let into our country.”
Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the coliseum, including a group of Haitians who blasted the pet-eating rumors spread by Trump and his running mate JD Vance.