By Eric Ayres, The Intelligencer
WHEELING, W.Va. – One local family taking part in this week’s activities at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin anticipated an electric atmosphere, but they didn’t bargain for the level of intensity that has swept the event in the wake of last Saturday’s assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, who on Monday officially became the GOP nominee.
Beth Hinebaugh of Wheeling has been at the convention for the past couple of days with her husband, Ed, and two of their children – Brock, 19, and Paige, 17. They are not representing West Virginia in any official capacity, but instead are guests of New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager, whose wife is a cousin of Ed Hinebaugh. It is their first time visiting the RNC, and it already has been an unforgettable experience.
Republican delegates and their guests from across the nation have descended on Milwaukee since this weekend, when the excitement took on a new perspective following the assassination attempt on Trump’s life at a rally Saturday night in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Hinebaughs had already left Wheeling and were en route to Wisconsin when news of the shooting broke. They arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday, and not long afterward, Trump also arrived in town – landing there via jet, and while exiting the aircraft, was seen in public for the first time since a bullet from the would-be assassin grazed his ear.
That changed the atmosphere and tone at the RNC in Milwaukee.