Scathing Secret Service probe details haphazard securing of Butler rally and communication breakdowns
A scathing report from the Secret Service details failures by agents in the hours leading up to the shooting of Donald Trump -including breakdowns in communication and haphazard securing of the site.
The findings are part of a Secret Service probe into the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooting wounded Trump in the ear. It also left one spectator dead and two more hurt.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to climb onto the roof of a building only a few hundred yards away and fire at Trump with an AR-style rifle. Crooks was shot dead by snipers, but not before wounding the Republican nominee for president.
The attempted assassination led to outrage over the Secret Service’s handling of the event and the agency’s response. It was learned soon after the local police had flagged Crooks as a person of interest. But while searching for him, he was able to get onto the roof and open fire.
The fallout from the shooting and a slow investigation led to the resignation of then-director Kimberly Cheatle.
This week, Congressional leaders were briefed behind closed doors about the shooting.
Now, the Washington Post has detailed some of the Secret Service’s findings, according to sources.
That report stated that agents had discussed using flags and heavy equipment to obstruct the view between the building where Crooks fired from and the stage. However, when agents arrived on July 13, they found that the trucks and flags had not been deployed in a way that blocked the line of sight from the roof.
Secret Service officials also found weaknesses in the communication system for candidate-centric events - compared to those used when the president or vice president speaks.
In Butler, the Secret Service radio room had no way to get real-time alerts from local police surveillance of the crowd or outer perimeter, according to the Post.
Local police had alerted about a suspicious man before Trump arrived, but it was not broadcast widely on the Secret Service radio. Instead, local snipers were told to send a picture of the man - which turned out to be Crooks - to just one Secret Service official.
Finally, Secret Service agents never heard local police radios about trying to track down the man after Trump began speaking.
The Secret Service was also slow in beefing up security for Trump as he began campaigning, even after intelligence indicated there was an Iranian plot to kill or harm political candidates, according to the Post.
Officials with the Secret Service have already made improvements in the shooting’s wake including housing its agents and local police in the same command center for appearances by presidential candidates.
Still, it hasn’t slowed the fervor from those in congress over the shooting.
Following this week’s Congressional briefing, several spoke out in dismay over what they were told. A public hearing is scheduled for later this month.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said that lawmakers "will have a report very, very soon that I think will absolutely shock the American people about the lapses and lags in protection that was afforded that day and the breakdown in communication, failure and responsibility,” according to Fox News.
