United States – A new acting director of the US Secret Service said on Tuesday that he was ashamed of a major security failure that took place before the attempted assassination of the Republican candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump, on July 13 at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
New Director Confronts Major Lapses Before July Attack
Appearing before the two Senate committees, Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe stated that he had visited the site of the outdoor rally in Butler and reached the building from where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks fired at Trump’s right ear, killing one enthusiast, injuring two others and himself with the AR-15-style rifle, as reported by Reuters.
“What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe told a joint hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees. “As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”
Officials have still not been able to determine the reason behind Crooks’ actions. Still, in an FBI hearing, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said that recently, investigators found out that the shooter had a new social media account with a timeline of 2019-2020.
Troubling Social Media Activity
“There were over 700 comments posted from this account,” Abbate said. “Some of these comments appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature.”
Rowe’s confession of a major security failure occurred a week after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign over the congressional pressure after she declined to reveal the inadequacies within security when being questioned by the House of Representatives panel.
Rowe wanted to calm down legislators, suspecting that as the campaign heats up prior to the Nov. 5 US election, more political violence might be expected; he insisted that further, such failures have not been possible due to measures that he has since put in place.
Since July 13, the Secret Service has listed six persons for protection, such as Republican vice presidential hopeful JD Vance and his family, as well as independent presidential aspirant Robert F Kennedy, while augmenting security forces, according to Rowe.
Congressional Response and Ongoing Inquiries
“This attack was a shocking reminder that the threat of political violence is alive and well in our country,” Democratic Senate Homeland Security Chairman Gary Peters noted, stating that the assault was ‘inexcusable security and planning failure,’ His committee is preparing for the changes, which are aimed at enhancing security measures for the Secret Service.
Ranking member Senator Rand Paul stated that his staff discovered inadequate communication between local police who initially approached Crooks and the Secret Service.
Rowe explained that Secret Service counter snipers and members of Trump’s protective detail were unaware that there was a man armed with a gun atop a structure in the vicinity.
The assassination attempt is also the subject of House and Senate committees’ inquiries, as well as a new bipartisan task force created by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, as reported by Reuters.
Cops say they don’t know why Crooks acted as he did, as few people knew him, and he had no friends, essentially having contact only with his family. Many questions arise concerning the time, starting from when the police officers identified Crooks till the Secret Service sharpshooters eliminated him when he fired at them.