High-profile security expert from El Paso weighs in on attempt on Trump’s life

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- People from across the U.S. and the world have been weighing in on the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life Saturday. Now, an El Pasoan with experience in high-profile security is speaking out.

Freddy Medina is a former U.S. Border Patrol Agent, former U.S. Marine, and is well-versed in diplomatic security. He currently owns Cimalli Security Solutions. The company, based in El Paso, offers high-profile security and training open to everyone.

Over the years, Medina has protected high-profile individuals, like U.S. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas.

"Training is paramount. Especially in such a big capacity like that. You know, you've got to pay attention to what's going on," said Medina.

But Medina said, mistakes happen. He believes that is what happened leading up to Saturday's deadly shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

"Sometimes we get complacent what we do, you know, we've done it so many times, day in and day out, that we just figured nothing's going to happen. And then the inevitable happens," said Medina.

Medina experienced an emergency situation nearly five years ago.

On August 3, 2019, Medina and his wife were shopping at the Cielo Vista Mall, when the Walmart shooting happened nearby. He said while he was afraid, his training helped him react.

"I was scared. I think anybody says that they're not scared when something like that happens, it's... they're pretty much lying to themselves," he said. ""We've got to kind of snap out of that and and stay focused on what we're doing, stay obviously staying off our phones, being looking out at the crowd, make sure that the crowds do what it's supposed to do and maybe sometimes even look beyond the crowd."