Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe did not directly answer a question about why agents did not look at the location used by the assassination attempt along the Trump International Golf Club, which has been known for years as a security vulnerability.
Rowe was providing an update Friday on Secret Service missteps since the July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Many of the questions Rowe was asked were about the second assassination attempt, which took place on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“After all, the person was detected.”
“The busy public road adjacent to the sixth hole where the suspect was hiding is a well-known blind spot on the golf course. Why did no one from the U.S. Secret Service check behind that fence for threats?” the reporter asked Rowe.
“They were ahead. … What I just explained was that unit, that lead unit, was ahead and clearing the way,” Rowe replied.
“But was there someone behind the fence where the road was sweeping to see if there was anyone in the bushes?” the reporter asked Mr Lowe.
“Whether it's the public or private side, we've been there and seen the situation, and at the end of the day, the individual was detected,” Rowe said.
Reports say the only reason the lead elements of Trump's contingent were able to find the shooter, Ryan Routh, was because Routh had the barrel of his rifle sticking out of the brush on the other side of the fence — a brush that would have made it much harder for agents to find him if he hadn't.
Lowe faces increased scrutiny following Sunday's major security breach, the second assassination attempt on Trump in less than two months, and the second occurred on his watch.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said Thursday that federal law enforcement agencies investigating the West Palm Beach shooting are not cooperating with state agencies that are also looking into the matter.
“No, they're not cooperating. Yes, I'm concerned. For example, our investigators were denied access to the fence outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. I think they're taking the position that they don't want the state of Florida involved in this. But the issue is there were multiple violations of Florida state law,” DeSantis said.
– YouTubeYouTube
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