Current:Home > StocksSecret Service report details communication failures preceding July assassination attempt on Trump -Triumph Financial Guides
Secret Service report details communication failures preceding July assassination attempt on Trump
View
Date:2025-04-20 06:43:09
WASHINGTON (AP) — Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service’s performance during a July campaign rally where former President Donald Trump was shot and wounded, according to a document released Friday that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof.
A five-page document summarizing the key conclusions of a yet-to-be finalized report lays bare the cascading and wide-ranging failings that preceded the July 13 shooting at a Butler, Pennsylvania at which Trump was struck in the ear by gunfire.
Those include an absence of clear guidance from the Secret Service to local law enforcement, the failure to fix line-of-sight vulnerabilities at the rally grounds that left Trump open to sniper fire and “complacency” among some agents, said Ronald Rowe Jr., the agency’s acting director.
Though the failed response has been well-documented through congressional testimony, news media investigations and other public statements, the summary document released Friday marks the Secret Service’s most formal attempt to catalog the errors of the day and comes amid fresh scrutiny of the agency following Sunday’s arrest of a man who authorities say stalked Trump at a Florida golf course.
“This was a failure on the part of the United States Secret Service. It’s important that we hold ourselves to account for the failures of July 13th and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this again,” Rowe said at a news conference accompanying the release of the summary. The full document is still being finalized.
The report details a series of “communications deficiencies” before the shooting by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper after firing eight rounds in Trump’s direction from the roof of a building less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking. That building had been identified as a possible hazard before the event, Rowe said, yet officials didn’t take appropriate steps to correct the potential problems.
“Line-of-sight issues were acknowledged, but not properly mitigated. Issues were encountered the day of the visit with respect to line-of-sight concerns, but they were not escalated to supervisors,” Rowe said. “While some members of the advanced team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols.”
Among the other problems: Some local police at the site were unaware of the existence of two communications centers on the grounds, meaning officers did not know that the Secret Service were not receiving their radio transmissions.
Law enforcement also overly relied on cell phones, instead of Secret Service radio frequencies, to communicate vital information. As officers searched for Crooks before the shooting, details were being transmitted “via mobile/cellular devices in staggered or fragmented fashion” instead of through the Secret Service’s own network.
“The failure of personnel to broadcast via radio the description of the assailant, or vital information received from local law enforcement regarding a suspicious individual on the roof of the AGR complex, to all federal personnel at the Butler site inhibited the collective awareness of all Secret Service personnel,” the report said. That’s an acronym for AGR International Inc., a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where the rally was held.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
- Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
That breakdown was especially problematic for Trump’s protective detail, “who were not apprised of how focused state and local law enforcement were in the minutes leading up to the attack on locating the suspicious subject.” Had they known, the report says, they could have made the decision to relocate Trump while the search for the gunman was in progress.
The report raises more serious questions about why no law enforcement were stationed on the roof Crooks climbed onto before opening fire.
A local tactical team was stationed on the second floor of a building in the complex from which Crooks fired. Multiple law enforcement entities questioned the effectiveness of the team’s position, “yet there was no follow-up discussion” about changing it, the report says. And there was no discussion with Secret Service about putting a team on the roof, even though snipers from local law enforcement agencies “were apparently not opposed to that location.”
The tactical team operating on the second floor of the building had no contact with Secret Service before the rally. That team was brought in by a local police department to help with the event, without Secret Service’s knowledge, the report says.
The Secret Service understood in advance that the rally site, selected by Trump’s staff because it better accommodated the “large number of desired attendees,” was a security challenge because of lines of sight that could be exploited by a would-be attacker. And yet, the report said, no security measures were taken on July 13 to remove those concerns and the Secret Service lacked detailed knowledge about the local law enforcement support that would even be in place.
The report’s executive summary does not identify specific individuals who may be to blame nor does it indicate whether any staff members have been disciplined, though The Associated Press has previously reported that at least five Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty. The director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned more than a week after the shooting, saying she took full responsibility for the lapse.
The Secret Service’s investigation is one of numerous inquiries, including by Congress and a watchdog probe by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general office.
Rowe has said the July shooting and Sunday’s episode, in which 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents detected a rifle poking through shrubbery lining the West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where Trump was playing, underscore the need for a paradigm shift in how the agency protects public officials.
Trump, he said, is receiving the “highest levels” of protection and the Secret Service response in Florida was an example of procedures working as they should.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- German far-right party assailed over report of extremist meeting
- Hungary won’t back down and change LGBTQ+ and asylum policies criticized by EU, minister says
- What does this IRS code mean on my tax refund? Codes 826, 846, 570 and more explained.
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Justice Department report details the how the shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, unfolded
- A court of appeals in Thailand hands an activist a 50-year prison term for insulting the monarchy
- I’m a Croc Hater–But These Viral TikTok Croc Boots & More New Styles Are Making Me Reconsider
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Can the deadliest cat in the world be this tiny and cute? Watch as Gaia, the black-footed cat, greets Utah
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Illustrated edition of first ‘Hunger Games’ novel to come out Oct. 1
- Reba McEntire to sing national anthem at Super Bowl, plus Post Malone and Andra Day performances
- It's the 40th edition of Sundance — but the festival is looking forward, not back
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- An airstrike on southern Syria, likely carried out by Jordan’s air force, kills 9
- Arnold Schwarzenegger detained at airport for traveling with unregistered watch, reports say
- Dominican authorities arrest US rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine on domestic violence charges
Recommendation
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Mariska Hargitay, 'Law & Order: SVU' stars celebrate 25th anniversary milestone in NYC
Bid by meatpacker JBS to join New York Stock Exchange faces opposition over Amazon deforestation
Minnesota election officials express confidence about security on eve of Super Tuesday early voting
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
NJ governor renews vows to close detention center where 50 men say they were sexually abused as boys
German far-right party assailed over report of extremist meeting
Who is Dejan Milojević? Everything to know about the late Warriors coach and Serbian legend