Secret Service probe details failures before Trump rally shooting

A Secret Service investigation has confirmed security breakdowns that paved the way for an attempted assassination of Donald Trump, while also revealing new information — including that agents never directed local police to secure the roof of the building used by the gunman, according to two senior government officials familiar with the probe. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe an internal probe, said the investigation found that agents from Secret Service headquarters and the Pittsburgh field office had an alarmingly slipshod strategy to block a potential shooter from having a clear sight of the Republican nominee for president at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pa. Advertisement Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to climb atop the building and open fire on Trump, wounding his ear, critically injuring two other people and killing one spectator before being fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper. Unlike the robust communication system for appearances by the president or vice president, which is supported by the U.S. military, the Secret Service uses a command post for event communications that is separate from local police assigned to the event. In Butler, the investigation found that: A Secret Service radio room where agents were supposed to monitor potential threats and get reports of any problems had no way to receive real-time alerts from local police surveilling the crowd and outer perimeter. Instead, local counter snipers were instructed to text a photo of the man — who was behaving oddly near the Agr building and carrying a range finder — to just one Secret Service official, limiting the agency’s awareness of a man who turned out to be the gunman. The report also found the protective operations office of the Secret Service was slow to beef up security for Trump as he began campaigning, even after the agency obtained intelligence indicating that there was an Iranian state plot to kill or harm political candidates. Rowe shared a summary in private briefings with the Senate Homeland Security Committee and a House investigative task force Thursday and told lawmakers that he has ordered a number of changes in security plans to address these gaps, one of the officials said. Advertisement For example, the agency now co-locates Secret Service agents and local police in the same command center for public appearances of the presidential candidates, the official said. “I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished, and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told Fox News after Thursday’s briefing. The Post reported that police in Butler County warned the Secret Service in the hours before the rally that they would not be able to post a patrol car next to the Agr building, but Secret Service agents gave them no other instructions to secure the building. Advertisement Ahead of the public release of the report’s findings, several senior Secret Service agents are announcing their retirements. Also imminently retiring is John Buckley, a senior executive who helps oversee the office that decides what assets to devote to secure public events, according to an email sent to Secret Service staff Friday and reviewed by The Post. A senior agent in the Pittsburgh field office, which crafted the security plan, also has indicated his plans to retire, one of the officials familiar with the investigation said. Advertisement In response to questions about the report, Rowe said in a statement that the report found numerous errors for which the agency must be held accountable, and that he has begun an agency-wide review to harden the protective bubble around the more than 40 government officials and family members the Secret Service protects. “The Secret Service cannot operate under the paradox of ‘zero fail mission’ while also making our special agents and uniformed division officers execute a very critical national security mission by doing more with less,” Rowe said. Though the Secret Service took responsibility for the security failures soon after the Trump rally shooting, the aftermath was filled with bitter recriminations and confusion over whether the service or local law enforcement was responsible for allowing Crooks to access the roof just 150 yards from where Trump was speaking. Trump’s aides have said the Secret Service rebuffed their efforts over the past several years to enhance his security but significantly expanded his protection and equipment after the assassination attempt, with far more snipers agents and closures around him. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/13/trump-shooting-secret-service-failures/