The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump harshly criticized newly revealed failures by the Secret Service in planning and executing the security that led to one spectator being killed, two seriously injured and the Republican candidate being hit in the ear.
One key failure, according to a preliminary summary of the investigation's findings released Wednesday, involved an employee unfamiliar with drone equipment seeking help from a toll-free technical support hotline after a prior request for more drones was rejected. The employee had only had one hour of informal drone training, the committee said.
“There were multiple foreseeable and preventable planning and operational failures by the USSS, [Thomas] “Crux's capabilities enabled him to carry out the assassination attempt on former President Trump on July 13,” the preliminary report said, “including unclear roles and responsibilities, insufficient coordination with state and local law enforcement, lack of effective communications, and the inoperability of the C-UAS system.”
According to testimony from Trump's staff and an agent in the Pittsburgh field office, the Secret Service security office and counter-sniper team had been notified 27 minutes before the shooting that a suspicious person with a rangefinder had been spotted near the AGR building, where the shooter eventually took up position on the building's roof.
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On July 13, 2024, a counter-sniper fired back at a man who tried to shoot former President Trump during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
“Just before the shooting, a USSS counter sniper saw local police officers running towards the AGR Building with their guns drawn, but did not alert former President Trump's security forces to remove him from the stage,” the committee revealed in its 94-page report. “The USSS counter sniper told the committee that seeing the officers with their guns drawn 'elevated the threat level,' but the idea of notifying anyone to remove Mr. Trump from the stage 'never crossed his mind.' [his] heart.'”
The very fact that Secret Service anti-sniper units were deployed was unusual, according to the report: They were added to the rally's security planning after “credible intelligence” about a potential threat. Candidates who have left office don't typically assemble anti-sniper teams before their party's nominating convention, and the Republican National Convention didn't begin until two days after the shooting.
Thomas Crooks attended a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Senator Ron Johnson)
Ahead of the rally, local police had expressed concerns about the AGR building across the street from the square where Trump was due to speak a few days before the rally, but its rooftop remained unsecured.
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Advance guards protecting Trump had requested additional resources in advance, including extra drone equipment and extra counter-assault officers to act as liaisons with local SWAT teams.
Former President Trump reacts as multiple gunshots ring out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“These requests were rejected, sometimes without explanation,” the committee noted.
Additionally, agents in charge of the drone equipment available on site encountered technical issues and were unable to fly the drone until Crooks flew his own drone near the rally site.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report identifies 'major failures'
- Lack of clearly defined ownership of planning and security
- AGR Building “not effectively covered”
- Poor communication and coordination with state and local law enforcement agencies
- The Secret Service previously denied requests for additional assets.
- Failed to prevent Trump from taking the stage, information conveyed about “suspicious person”
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After the Secret Service returned fire to thwart an assassination attempt on former President Trump, authorities came close to the suspect's body. (Source: Fox News Digital)
The report delved further into Acting Director Ronald Rowe's admission last week that communications glitches delayed the delivery of critical information just before the shooting: Secret Service agents appeared to have numerous technical problems with their radios, and the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office didn't have one at all because he had given one to the advance guard protecting Trump.
Another major failure criticized by the committee was the lack of a clear chain of command: It said officials involved in reconnaissance and planning for the rally “denied any personal responsibility for planning and security failures and shifted the blame.”
On July 13, 2024, shots rang out at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was hastily removed from the stage. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“I'm not approving anything,” Reid reportedly told the senators. “I'm obviously not going to approve anything that they [the USSS site agent and USSS site counterpart] “We're going to compile the nominations and other information that we've gathered from other pre-election organizations, and then that's all going to the field office, which then goes to the nomination operations office for Trump, which then goes to headquarters.”
Police officers respond to an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The committee recommended better coordination and clearer leadership, including the appointment of a single person to approve security plans, more functional communication between federal and local investigators, and additional intelligence assets and other resources.
According to the Commission, the local police stationed inside the AGR building were tasked with protecting the crowd, not guarding the roof: a local sniper inside the building might have been able to see the area on the roof from which Crooks fired, but would have had to go into another room without a clear view of the crowd.
Moreover, according to the commission, local police officers inside were designated “snipers” whose role was to scan the crowd from concealed positions as “counter-snipers” who would scout vantage points for threats from attackers like Crooks.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the committee's findings.
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The attack on a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 was the first of two assassination attempts on President Trump this summer. A counter-sniper returned fire, shooting and killing the suspect, Matthew Thomas Crooks, 20.
In the second attempt, Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested on September 15 after a Secret Service agent saw someone pointing a rifle at him from among the trees on the edge of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the former president was playing golf at the time.
