Senate Reports Security Gaps in Trump Shooting
(MENAFN) A Senate investigation disclosed on Sunday has brought to light "stunning failures" within the US Secret Service (USSS), which enabled a shooter to injure President Donald Trump during a campaign rally held on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The report, compiled by Senator Rand Paul, who heads the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, describes a "disturbing pattern of denials, mismanagement, and missed warning signs."
It identifies numerous lapses in both the strategic preparation and on-site execution of the rally’s security measures, which allowed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to access a rooftop and fire eight rounds from an AR-15 style rifle, striking Trump on the upper right ear.
Besides wounding Trump, Crooks’ gunfire also struck three spectators, one of whom succumbed to their injuries.
The attacker was ultimately killed by a counter-sniper from the Secret Service.
This bipartisan inquiry, which relied on testimonies from Secret Service agents and an extensive review of over 75,000 pages of documentation, discovered that the agency had "denied multiple requests for additional staff, assets, and resources to protect President Trump during the campaign."
According to the report, "USSS agents failed to communicate crucial information regarding the suspicious individual to President Trump's shift detail, which had the ability to prevent him from taking the stage."
This oversight was deemed critical and potentially preventable.
The findings further highlight "a severe lack of coordination and communication between USSS and state and local law enforcement from the advance process through the event," underscoring a systemic breakdown in interagency collaboration and planning.
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