Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) is calling for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle following the failure of special forces to act during the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Cheatle acknowledged that “the Secret Service is responsible for protecting the former president,” but added that “the responsibility rests with me.”
“The Secret Service’s responsibility is to ensure the security of the venue,” Harris told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “Clearly the venue was not secure. Clearly they did not communicate adequately with local law enforcement. And the responsibility lies with her. She should take full responsibility, and that’s why I’ve called for her to resign.”
Harris is a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which is responsible for funding the Secret Service.
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Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) has called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
On Saturday, Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to make it to the roof of a building in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the tactical team monitoring President Trump’s rallies is housed.
As Trump was addressing a crowd in Pennsylvania, gunfire rang out from the top of the building, with one bullet grazing Trump’s right ear.
The Secret Service has come under heavy criticism for allowing the shooter to have a clear view of the president from about 150 yards away.
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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle holds a press conference in Chicago on June 4. (Kamil Krzaczniyskiy/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris said he first learned about the shooting through a text message from his wife, and the two of them searched for news outlets to find out what had happened.
In the days since the shooting, Harris said the news he’s hearing is “not very positive” for law enforcement officials and the Secret Service.
A Secret Service source confirmed that local police officers were stationed inside the AGR building while Crooks was on the roof. In an interview with ABC News, Cheatle said the decision was made not to station officers on the roof because it was sloped “at the highest point.”
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures with a bloody face after multiple gunshots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“So, you know, the safety factor is that you don’t want people on a sloping roof,” Cheatle said.
Multiple law enforcement experts told Fox News that the decision to place a particular building within a security zone ultimately rests with the Secret Service, which also has the final say on how to protect buildings that have line of sight to those it protects.
“Obviously the shooter didn’t realize that the muzzle was too steep or the angle was too sharp,” Harris said. “Honestly, at this point I’m disappointed in her response. It sounds like she’s making excuses.”
Harris also said “the facts speak for themselves.”
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“You know, the fact that a president was nearly assassinated in a place that has been examined by numerous experts and says that should never have happened means that she should be held accountable,” the congressman said. “She should resign even as the investigation continues, because we need to find a director of the Secret Service…” [who would take] “She or he should take her or his role in protecting the former president and other protected individuals more seriously.”
Fox News’ Jake Gibson and David Spunt contributed to this report.
