The U.S. Secret Service is facing an array of tough questions, calls for accountability, firings and investigations this week as well as public feuding with local law enforcement.
House Oversight Republicans launched an investigation into the U.S. Secret Service after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday. President Joe Biden has also asked for an independent review.
While there are a myriad of questions, and information is still coming in, most agree that the Secret Service should be held accountable.
“Whatever shortcomings there are, the Secret Service has to answer to that,” former head of the U.S. Secret Service and founding administrator of the Transportation Security Administration John Magaw told The Center Square. “After the Kennedy shooting, I never thought we’d make this mistake again.”
The inquiry comes in the aftermath of an attempted assassination attempt against Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday that left the president injured and the shooter and a rally attendee dead.
Head of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle gave an interview to ABC News this week where she called the events of Saturday unacceptable and said “the buck stops” with her. She also appeared to attempt to shift blame to local law enforcement, who were reportedly responsible for the outer perimeter including a nearby building where the shooter fired from about 130 years away.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle told ABC News. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building – there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, released a statement taking issue with the Secret Service shifting blame to local police.
“Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, State, or Federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump, they acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone else at the event. We must recognize that,” Yoes said. “This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event. The shooter should never have had access to the roof from which he made his attack. Whether the plan or the execution failed will come to light, but in the meantime law enforcement still has a job to do.”
Yoes defended the heroism of officers on the ground.
“While reports and information is still being gathered and developed, a man was able to obtain a shooting perch with line of sight to former President Trump, a protectee of the United States Secret Service (USSS),” Yoes said. “It is the primary function of the USSS to provide for the protection and security on sites like the one in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
The House investigation is one of multiple that aims to get to the bottom of what the Secret Service did wrong, what can be done better next time, and who is responsible for Trump’s near death experience.
In particular, experts, former agents and others have pressed the Secret Service on a few key questions:
How was the shooter able to get within about 130 yards of Trump, an easy shot for most trained shooters?
Why was no officer on that rooftop?
Why did law enforcement officials not react more quickly, especially after video appears to show that rally attendees saw the shooter minutes before Trump was shot?
Why did it take so long to get Trump off stage after the shooting?
Why were small women guarding Trump’s body since he is 6’3″?
Did the Secret Service’s recent focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion become a distraction or lower the standards for officers?
Critics have raised these questions and others after Saturday’s events.
Many have called for Cheatle to resign, but Department of Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas vehemently defended her this week at the White House press briefing, as The Center Square previously reported.
Others have questioned whether local law enforcement should have a role in working with the Secret Service. Yoes pushed back on that concern.
“Suggestions made in the media that suggest local agencies should play no role in assisting the USSS at events like the one in Butler simply do not know what they are talking about,” Yoes said in a statement.
“Yet, in the wake of some of the anonymous comments from unknown officials, State and local agencies may wonder if they can rely on the Secret Service,” Yoes continued. “I am concerned that anonymous statements or media speculation could have a chilling effect on the ability of Federal, State, and local law enforcement to work together through what will certainly be a grueling campaign.”
Nolan McKendry contributed to this report.
