Secret Service protocols scrutinized following Trump assassination attempt
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Secret service agents cover Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13, in Butler, Pa. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The attempted assassination of former President Trump at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday has placed the Secret Service under intense scrutiny as it faces pressure to explain the apparent security lapse.
Why it matters: Questions remain about how the shooter was able to obtain a line of sight on the former president, who was shot in the ear.
- "It was a basic oversight, but a catastrophic one," Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent, told Axios.
State of play: The FBI is investigating the incident as both an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism.
- The Secret Service has vowed to comply with a stream of Congressional investigations into the shooting, with director Kimberly Cheatle expected to testify before a House Oversight Committee hearing next week.
- The Secret Service will also likely conduct "an extremely deep dive into exactly what happened, what went into the advance, what decisions were made, why those decisions were made," Jason Russell, another former Secret Service agent, told Axios.
The big picture: An "advance" refers to the preparation work the Secret Service does before any presidential event or campaign rally, Russell said.
- This includes visiting the venue several days ahead of time and working with local law enforcement to plan the motorcade route and decide where to position assets, he said.
- Questions about how the preparations were conducted and how the shooter gained access to a nearby building rooftop have already surfaced from lawmakers.
- "I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately," Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a former Marine, said in a statement Sunday.
Zoom in: The manufacturing plant the shooter fired from was located less than 150 meters from the rally stage, per AP.
- The roof "had a line of sight and it should have been covered" by law enforcement, LaSorsa said.
- However, Russell cautioned that Secret Service can't control every area of private property near an event venue and is often operating with limited resources.
- "They may have wanted additional ... counter snipers, or they may have wanted to expand out the perimeter, but the larger you make the perimeter, the more you have to secure that perimeter," Russell said.
Witnesses who allegedly spotted the shooter on the rooftop and tried to alert police have further underscored questions about the law enforcement response at the rally.
- Russell expects that questions about whether the police officer's response was "appropriate" will be answered in the coming months.
- Regardless, that information has to travel up the chain of command before it can be acted upon and the shooter may only have become visible to counter snipers mere moments before he began firing, Russell said.
What to watch: Moving forward, both Russell and LaSorsa expect to the Secret Service to increase security at events.
- As the investigation unfolds, Russell said he is curious to see if Secret Service agents were denied requests for resources or assets during advance preparations.
The bottom line: The Trump shooting represents a setback in the Secret Service's effort to operate under a "zero-fail mission" to protect the country's leaders.
- "The unfortunate reality of being a Secret Service agent is you don't really have the ability to have a bad day," Russell said. "Any mistakes that are made ... can change the course of history."
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