BREAKING: Elon Musk calls for head of Secret Service to resign after Trump assassination attempt at PA rally

The attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon at a Pennsylvania rally showed the ineffectiveness of the Secret Service, which was tasked with protecting the former president and those at the rally. While Trump was speaking to voters, a sniper took aim on a nearby rooftop and Secret Service agents were not able to neutralize the gunman until after shots were fired, leaving Trump injured and at least one attendee dead. In response, many, including Elon Musk, took to social media to call for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle.

"Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate," Musk said. "Either way, the SS leadership must resign." He was responding to a tweet from Human Events' Jack Posobiec, who asked "How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, of border crisis fame, is head of the agency under which the Secret Service falls. Of his contribution, Musk said, responding agains to Posobiec, "he ought to be in jail." Musk endorsed Trump for president shortly after the shooting, something he'd not previously done, having indicated that he'd prefer to stay out of politics.

Many others were asking similar questions, including eyewitnesses who said they were trying to alert law enforcement to the presence of a sniper on the roof in the moments leading up to the shooting. As shots rang out, Trump reached for his ear, realized what was happening, and dove under the podium. Secret service agents ran in to cover him.

Cheatle, as head of the Secret Service, is where the buck stops for any and all failures of that agency. She's the 27th head of the agency, and her previous position was as Senior Director in Global Security for international beverage conglomerate PepsiCo. In that position, she was responsible for the security of the group's North American facilities. She'd been with the Secret Service before that. 

Cheatle was invited to testify before the House Oversight Committee on July 22, just days after the RNC. In a letter to Cheatle, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said "The Committee on Oversight and Accountability has initiated an investigation into today's assassination attempt on President Trump and requests your voluntary appearance at a full Committee hearing on July 22, 2024."

The Secret Service is also responsible for security at the Republican National Convention, where Trump is slated to speak and formally accept his party's nomination for president in 2024. They recently released a map of the area where the convention will take place, coordinating with local elected leaders and law enforcement.

"Closer to the convention, when the plan is finalized, we’ll share more information about the multi-layer buffer that will be in place,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “I want this to be a safe convention this summer in Milwaukee. At the same time, downtown Milwaukee will be open for business, and for entertainment as well.”