The world was stunned back in July when Donald Trump was shot in the ear after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This marked the first assassination attempt on a current or former president in over forty years.
While Trump survived, one rally-goer was killed, and two more were wounded. Afterward, the Secret Service found themselves in hot water with the public. Indeed, many questioned how they could allow this assassination attempt to take place right under their noses.
In the wake of this horrific assassination attempt, an independent panel launched an investigation into it. This panel has now issued a blistering report saying that the Secret Service needs “fundamental reform” and new leadership. If these changes don’t happen immediately, the panel warns that “another Butler can and will happen again.”
From The Associated Press:
The review faulted the Secret Service for poor communications that day and failing to secure the building where the gunman took his shots. It also found more systemic issues at the agency such as a failure to understand the unique risks facing Trump and a culture of doing “more with less.”The 52-page report issued Thursday recommended bringing in new, outside leadership and refocusing on the Secret Service’s protective mission.
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission,” the authors wrote Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Homeland Security Department, the Secret Service’s parent agency, in a letter accompanying their report. “Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”
The Secret Service fired back by claiming that they had already made changes in the wake of this assassination attempt.
“We have already significantly improved our readiness, operational and organizational communications and implemented enhanced protective operations for the former president and other protectees,” the agency’s acting director, Ronald Rowe, said in a statement on Thursday.
These changes include boosting training methods and looking at ways to retrain current agents. The Secret Service is also going about modernizing their technology.
The Secret Service Dropped The Ball
It continues to be unbelievable that a 20-year-old gunman was able to outsmart the Secret Service and nearly kill a former president. The gunman was flagged as a suspicious person one hour before he opened fire. Despite this, the Secret Service did nothing to stop him.
Agents also outrageously left the roof where he opened fire from unattended. They did this even though the roof was close to where Trump was giving his speech. This made it easier than ever for Trump to nearly be assassinated.
“Leaving a roof unattended, just you know, barely over 100 yards from the podium with a direct line of sight was an unacceptable and inexcusable error,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said last month. “Everybody thought this guy was suspicious, and nobody thought to stop the proceeding and remove the former president from the stage.”
Just a few weeks later, a second assassination attempt was thwarted at the last minute by the Secret Service. This time, a gunman staked out Trump’s golf course for 12 hours with an AK-47-style rifle in the hopes of assassinating the president as he golfed. He was 300-500 yards away from Trump when agents finally spotted and apprehended him.
It’s a relief that they were able to stop this assassination attempt before shots rang out. However, the gunman still got far too close to making his dreams of killing Trump a reality.
Every current and former president should feel safe in knowing that they are getting the best possible protection from the Secret Service. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Trump simply isn’t receiving that.
Here’s hoping the Secret Service makes these changes so an assassination attempt on a current or former president never happens again.
Key Takeaways:
- Panel probing first Trump assassination attempt demands Secret Service make “fundamental reforms.”
- The Secret Service claims to have already made changes.
- The Secret Service dropped the ball and failed to adequately protect Trump.
Sources: The Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News, The BBC
