The US Secret Service has revealed details of its investigation into its security failures during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Donald Trump At a campaign rally last July in Butler, Pennsylvania.
and enable Thomas Matthew Crooks From the shooting from a nearby rooftop during an outdoor rally held by Trump, who suffered a wound to his right ear and narrowly escaped death.
A US Secret Service investigation found communications lapses and negligence before the attempted assassination of Trump.
Interim Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe announced at a news conference that the review “identified deficiencies in advanced planning and execution by Secret Service personnel.”
“While some members of the advance team were extremely diligent, there was laxity on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols,” Rowe added.
Among the failures Rowe cited were poor communication with local law enforcement, an “over-reliance” on mobile devices, “which led to information isolation,” and line-of-sight issues that were “acknowledged but not adequately mitigated.”
“At approximately 18:10 local time, via a phone call, the Secret Service security room contacted a counter-sniper response agent to report that a person had been spotted on the roof of a building,” Rowe said.
He pointed out that “this vital information was not circulated on the Secret Service’s wireless network.”
He also spoke about “some customers feeling overconfident, which led to a breach of security protocols,” adding that those responsible would be held accountable.
“The sanctions will be applied in accordance with our disciplinary procedures,” he said, declining to provide specific details.
The attempted assassination of Trump at the campaign rally on July 13 sparked widespread criticism of the Secret Service, leading to the resignation of its director, with critics expressing concerns about how the suspect was able to reach the roof of a nearby building, giving him a direct view of where the former president was speaking.
In that incident, two attendees at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, were shot and killed, and a 50-year-old firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was killed, while Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service agents. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned over the incident.
Second assassination attempt
Rowe defended the agency’s actions in another apparent assassination attempt at Trump’s Florida golf club last Sunday. In that incident, a Secret Service agent shot the suspect after seeing a gun through a tree line, but the suspect did not fire a single shot and did not have a direct line of sight of Trump, who was golfing a few hundred feet away.
The suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, fled the scene and was later arrested and charged with weapons offenses. He is expected to appear in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
