Several high-ranking Secret Service agents are stepping down just before the public release of an internal investigation into the failures that led to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Several high-ranking Secret Service agents are stepping down just before the public release of an internal investigation into the failures that led to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, PA on July 13. Among the findings of the report is the revelation that agents did not instruct local police to secure the rooftop of the building where the gunman positioned himself, two anonymous sources have revealed to the Washington Post.
Mike Plati, the assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations, officially retired on Friday, according to a statement from the Secret Service.
John Buckley, a senior executive responsible for managing resources for public event security, is also set to retire soon, as revealed in an email sent to Secret Service staff. Additionally, a senior agent from the Pittsburgh field office, who was involved in developing a security plan, has signaled his intent to retire, according to an official familiar with the investigation.
Kimberly Cheatle, the agency's director, resigned shortly after a shooting incident, following bipartisan pressure for her to step down. She had been criticized for not providing immediate details about the investigation and for waiting for a 60-day review to conclude before sharing more information.
“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,” Dem Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters on Friday ahead of the report's release.
The report will also reveal that the Secret Service radio room, where agents were supposed to monitor potential threats, had no ability to receive real-time alerts from local police who were surveilling the crowd and outer perimeter.
Further, local police had alerted the Secret Service about a suspicious man at the rally before Trump arrived, but this information was not widely broadcast on Secret Service radio. Instead, counter-snipers were instructed to text a photo of the man—who was acting strangely near the Agr building and carrying a range finder—to just one Secret Service agent, limiting the agency's awareness of the individual who later turned out to be the gunman.
Additionally, Secret Service agents did not hear local police radio traffic about efforts to track and spot the suspect once Trump began speaking.
Per the Washington Post, the outlet that broke the news, "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. He warned that beefing up this security will cost money."
“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 told WaPo.
Per WaPo:
"Agents securing the event had discussed possibly using heavy equipment and flags to create a visual impediment between the Agr International building and the rally stage, the officials said. But supervisors who arrived at Butler the day of the rally found cranes, trucks and flags were not deployed in a way that blocked the line of sight from that roof.
"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."
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