Mayorkas names panel to review Trump rally shooting
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Republican presidential candidate, former President Trump, as he is rushed offstage following the July 13 rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has named a bipartisan panel of experts to conduct an independent review of the Trump rally shooting, the Department of Homeland Security announced Sunday.
The big picture: The panel has "extensive law enforcement and security experience" and will "conduct a 45-day independent review of the planning for and actions taken by the U.S. Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during, and after the rally, and the U.S. Secret Service governing policies and procedures," per a DHS statement.
- The announcement comes after GOP lawmakers confronted USSS director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last Wednesday to demand answers over the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
- Cheatle told House lawmakers earlier that day that the USSS had "failed" at its "no-fail mission" to protect GOP nominee Trump at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally shooting that killed a spectator.
State of play: The panel of experts from outside government will include ex-Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Frances Townsend, former homeland security advisor to President George W. Bush; and Mark Filip, a former federal judge and deputy Attorney General to President George W. Bush.
- Ex-Maryland State Police superintendent David Mitchell, who also previously served as secretary of the department of public safety and homeland security for Delaware, was also named on the panel.
- "Secretary Mayorkas could invite additional experts to join the panel in the coming days," the statement noted.
What they're saying: "I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again," Cheatle said in a statement to media Sunday evening.
- Mayorkas said in the DHS' statement that the department was "committed to getting to the bottom of what happened on July 13" and he's grateful to the review panel members, "who will bring decades of expertise in law enforcement and security operations to this important investigation."
- He added: "This independent review will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to ensure they carry out their no-fail mission most effectively and to prevent something like this from ever happening again."
More from Axios:
