Acting Secret Service Head ‘Cannot Defend’ Trump Rally Failures, Says Agents Didn’t Know About Gun

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Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Republican candidate Donald Trump was evacuated from the stage at today's rally after what sounded like shots rang out at the event in Pennsylvania, according to AFP. The former US president was seen with blood on his right ear as he was surrounded by security agents, who hustled him off the stage as he pumped his first to the crowd. Trump was bundled into an SUV and driven away. (Photo by Rebecca DROKE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)

The acting head of the Secret Service told a congressional hearing Tuesday that he “cannot defend” the security failures that allowed would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks to carry out the shooting at the former president’s rally earlier this month. Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe also noted Secret Service agents did not know Crooks was on the rooftop with a weapon. All the Secret Service knew was that local law enforcement was handling a “suspicious” person nearby, he said.

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National Review details Rowe’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee alongside FBI deputy director Paul Abbate. In his opening statement, Rowe promised the Secret Service will increase vetting of event security plans, expand the use of unmanned drones, streamline law enforcement communications, maximize personnel at protective sites, and discipline the individuals who failed to secure the Trump rally after the mistakes have been thoroughly investigated.

More than 90 minutes before the shooting, local law enforcement first identified Crooks at a picnic table outside of the nearby American Glass Research building, according to newly released text messages. Crooks was deemed a “suspicious” person and law enforcement knew he had a rangefinder to assess his distance from the stage Trump stood on.

On July 13, Crooks fired eight shots into the crowd of the Trump rally in Butler, Pa., wounding Trump and two others, and killing former fire chief Corey Comperatore. A Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks seconds after he fired the shots.

Before Crooks fired eight shots into the crowd, the Secret Service did not know he was on the rooftop with a weapon, Rowe testified. All the Secret Service knew was that local law enforcement was handling a “suspicious” person nearby, he said.

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Local law enforcement sent Secret Service a picture of Crooks a half hour before the shooting, but they did not receive any information about him possessing a weapon.

Among the information given in his testimony, Rowe said the communication breakdown between different law enforcement channels prevented the Secret Service from receiving the information sooner.

In the future, he said, Secret Service will gain access to the communications channels used by local law enforcement partners. Law enforcement used text message chats and radio to make decisions at the rally, and Secret Service failed to record agents’s radio communications that day.

Another hinderance to the Secret Service’s communications was the poor phone service at the Butler rally, Rowe said. The lack of bandwidth delayed the Secret Service’s deployment of drones, and prevented them from detecting the drone Crooks flew around the perimeter of the rally at roughly 3:51 p.m. on the day of the shooting. Rowe said he will be trying to set up a wifi system to ensure the Secret Service will have a connection at future events.

Rowe could not explain how Crooks was able to fly his drone but the Secret Service could not, and he expressed regret for the agency’s choice to decline local law enforcement’s offer to fly drones overhead.

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