Secret Service Identifies Failures That Led to Trump Assassination Attempt at July Campaign Rally

Washington — An assessment by the secret service of the failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump At a campaign rally on July 13, they noted multiple communication problems with law enforcement on the ground and a “lack of due diligence” on the part of the Secret Service.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe detailed to reporters the findings of the agency’s “mission assessment,” which he said is nearing completion. The report is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, the agency said.

“We need to change the paradigm in how we conduct our protection operations,” he said. “The threat level is changing and requires that paradigm shift.”

Rowe said the change involves looking at the agency “holistically.”

The July 13 shooting of Trump

The acting head of the Secret Service detailed the timeline that led to the shooter’s assassination. Thomas Matthew Crooks Security forces opened fire on the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding Trump and two others and killing one attendee. Crooks began shooting just after 6:11 p.m. local time on July 13. Rowe said that a minute before, the Secret Service security room had called a sniper response officer to report an individual on the roof of the building where Crooks was stationed, called the AGR building. That “vital information was not relayed over the Secret Service radio network,” the acting director said.

At 6:10 p.m., local police confronted Crooks on the roof and an officer at the site called a deputy to find out what was happening, Rowe said. During that call, gunshots began to ring out.

The Secret Service failed to provide clear guidance to local and state law enforcement, who were on hand to assist the agency during the rally, he said. Rowe also said there were “communication deficiencies” with officers on the scene, including an “overreliance” on mobile devices that led to information silos.

Although there were discussions before the rally about how the AGR building and a neighboring property would be secured, Rowe said there should have been clearer guidance on what the Secret Service needed. He noted that on the day of the rally, issues were identified regarding the line of sight to Trump that were not brought to the attention of supervisors.

“While some members of the preparatory team were very diligent, others were complacent, leading to a breach of safety protocols,” he said.

Rowe said the internal investigation found “deficiencies” in advance planning and implementation by Secret Service employees, who he said will be held accountable.

A Secret Service sniper shot and killed Crooks, 20, after opening fire. The assassination attempt sparked widespread criticism of the Secret Service and questions about how Crooks was able to access the rooftop so close to where Trump was speaking. The Secret Service director at the time of the shooting, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned in his wakeand Rowe was named acting chief. A bipartisan congressional task force and the FBI are also investigating the shooting.

The Secret Service released a five-page summary of the report, which highlighted “communication deficiencies” between the agency and local and state law enforcement that helped secure the Butler rally. One instance involved a local tactical team on the second floor of the AGR building that had no prior contact with the Secret Service before the rally. The summary also said that multiple law enforcement agencies questioned the “effectiveness” of the sniper team’s position in the building, but “there was also no discussion with Secret Service forward personnel about the positioning of this team atop the AGR roof.”

The agency found a “lack of detailed knowledge” about local and state law enforcement that would be present in and around the AGR complex, which was outside the rally’s security perimeter.

Addressing the communication problems, the summary states that the failure to broadcast Crooks’ description over the radio network to federal personnel present at the rally “impeded the collective awareness of all Secret Service personnel.”

“This failure was particularly serious with respect to the (Trump) protection officers, who were not informed of the concentration of local and state law enforcement in the minutes before the attack on the suspect’s location,” the report said. “Had this information been transmitted over Secret Service radio frequencies, it would have allowed the (former president’s) protection officers to determine whether to relocate their protégé while the search for the suspect was underway.”

Second apparent assassination attempt

Scrutiny of the former president’s protection intensified again this week after law enforcement arrested him Ryan Wesley Routh after he allegedly waited with a high-powered rifle Authorities said the suspect had an AK-47-style rifle and was about 300 to 500 yards from Trump, who was golfing, when a Secret Service agent spotted the weapon and opened fire.

Authorities said they found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tiles and a GoPro camera in the bushes outside the golf course. An FBI affidavit said data obtained from Routh’s cellphone provider showed his phone was in the area along the tree line of the Trump International Golf Course for about 12 hours before it was spotted.

The Secret Service said the suspect had no line of sight to Trump and was several holes in front of the former president.

Law enforcement is treating the incident as an assassination attempt against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. On Friday, Rowe praised the officer who identified the suspect with a long gun and took “quick action” to mitigate the threat.

“There was no shot fired at the former president. The former president was not exposed to where he was on the golf course,” he said. “The procedures work, the terminations work, so that high level of protection works.”

Following the latest incident, the House voted unanimously strengthen Secret Service protection for all major presidential and vice presidential candidates to bring them on par with the sitting president, a measure Rowe said the Secret Service has already implemented since July 13. Congress is also debating whether to increase funding for the Secret Service as part of the government funding legislation before the Oct. 1 deadline. Rowe said the Secret Service’s resources were strained by the increased protection levels and that the agency was having “productive” conversations with lawmakers about increasing funding.

As for Trump’s Secret Service protection, Rowe said he enjoys “the highest levels.”

“We are not taking advantage of the crisis,” he said. “We are making calculations. We have limited resources and we are using them to the maximum at the moment.”

The Biden administration asked Congress Last month, a request for special authorization to increase funding for the Secret Service in the coming weeks, multiple congressional and administration sources told CBS News.