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2024.09.21 10:29 GMT+8

Report finds U.S. Secret Service responsible for security failures in Trump assassination attempt in July

Updated 2024.09.21 10:29 GMT+8
CGTN

Chairman James Comer, the representative from Kentucky, left, and Republican Jim Jordan, the representative from Ohio, at the House Oversight and Accountability hearing titled 'Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump' in the Rayburn Building, Washington, D.C., U.S., July 22, 2024. /CFP

A new report released on Friday showed that the U.S. Secret Service is responsible for security failures in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, which resulted in one death and multiple injuries.

An internal review by the agency revealed that agents failed to use technology that could have identified the attacker when he flew a drone over the rally site hours before the incident.

The report highlighted shortcomings by the Secret Service's advance team and its coordination with state and local law enforcement before the attack. The Secret Service, responsible for overseeing Trump's security, did not instruct local police snipers to secure a nearby rooftop.

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned amid widespread outrage over the agency's failure to prevent the incident, was previously questioned by lawmakers at a Congressional hearing regarding why the agency failed to secure the rooftop.

At a news briefing on Friday, Acting Director Ronald Rowe cited a "lack of clarity" in the Secret Service's security planning for Trump's rally.

At the rally, shortly before shots were fired into the crowd, some attendees saw the suspect climbing onto the roof and alerted local police, but Trump's protective detail was unaware that police were searching for the suspicious person.

Secret Service agents and local law enforcement operated on different radio frequencies and were stationed in separate locations, which hindered their ability to quickly share information.

"It's important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13th, and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this again," Rowe said.

Following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, the Secret Service allocated additional resources not typically provided to someone in Trump's position.

On Sunday, a man was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel sticking out of a fence at the Trump International Golf Club in South Florida and "engaged" with him. Trump was unharmed in what appears to be the second assassination attempt in about two months.

Just days after the second attempt, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill on Friday aimed at enhancing Secret Service protection for presidential nominees and their respective vice presidential candidates.

The bill requires the Secret Service to "apply the same standards for determining the number of agents required to protect presidents, vice presidents, and major presidential and vice presidential candidates."

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency
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