‘There Was Complacency’: Secret Service Reveals Failures That Led to First Trump Assassination Attempt

Breakdowns in communication with local law enforcement impeded the Secret Service’s ability to competently address the first attempt on former president Donald Trump’s life at a Pennsylvania rally in July, according to a preliminary report released Friday.

Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe, who replaced Kimberly Cheatle following her resignation due to fallout from the attempted assassination, laid the blame on complacent Secret Service agents, who he vowed would face unspecified consequences.

“While some members of the advance team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols,” Rowe said while announcing the findings. The Secret Service head noted he could not detail personnel matters as the agency’s investigation remains ongoing.

The initial report does not identify specific individuals who failed in their duties nor does it indicate whether personnel have been disciplined, though Rowe said disciplinary action would be taken. The full report is not yet completed.

The five-page document outlines “communications deficiencies” between local and federal law enforcement at Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pa., where a round fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks wounded Trump’s right ear. The Secret Service’s summary of its internal review states those deficiencies lie in the agency’s advanced planning of the event and implementation of security protocols.

“These deficiencies included gaps in colocation of law enforcement resources to share information, the variety of radio frequencies/channels used (again without the colocation of physical personnel to convey information), and the capability of agency personnel to clearly convey the Secret Service’s protective needs,” the report reads.

For instance, local police were unaware of two communications centers on the ground — a Secret Service security room and an emergency-services command post for Butler County. This meant that officers did not know that the Secret Service was not receiving their radio transmissions that day.

One minute before Crooks opened fire, the Secret Service security room called a counter sniper to warn that Crooks was on a nearby roof with a gun but that “vital piece of information was not relayed over the Secret Service radio network,” Rowe said.

Furthermore, law enforcement communicated vital information outside the Secret Service’s official radio frequencies via cell phones “in staggered or fragmented fashion” as officers searched for the shooter, according to the report. “The different radio frequencies used at the Butler Farm Show venue were not conducive for quickly sharing real-time information,” it says.

Secret Service and local police entities also saw the rally’s venue as a security challenge in advance, citing “line of site concerns.”

Crooks fired eight shots in Trump’s direction from a nearby rooftop less than 150 yards away before the gunman was killed by a Secret Service sniper. The building was located outside the site’s secure perimeter.

The Secret Service has been under scrutiny since it failed to prevent the attack, which has only intensified since the latest assassination attempt against the former president.

On Sunday, an agent spotted and opened fire on a would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, hiding in a bush with a rifle at Trump’s Florida golf club. The exchange caused Routh to flee the scene in his vehicle. He was detained by police and taken into custody shortly thereafter. The Secret Service admitted to not searching the golf course’s perimeter before Trump started golfing.