The U.S. Secret Service is recruiting new agents with extensive experience from outside the agency to address the long list of significant failures revealed by the nearly successful assassination attempt of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. A leadership team is needed, the review committee recommended.
A four-person investigative group appointed by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reiterated many of the weaknesses identified by other investigators since the July 13 assassination attempt. The group said the Secret Service needs a new director and leadership team to address everything from risk-based threat assessments to a lack of critical thinking among its staff.
One of the most shocking aspects of the assassination attempt was the ease with which a young man, barely in his teens, was able to defeat what was supposed to be world-class security.
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform in order to carry out its mission,” the committee said in a letter to Mayorkas. “Without that reform, the independent review committee believes that another deacon can and will happen again.”
The independent review board said the Secret Service “is not functioning at the elite level necessary to carry out its critical mission.”
“Despite increasing risks and advances in technology, the Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static,” the committee wrote. “The independent review committee's work uncovered not only the numerous mistakes that led to the events of July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, but also deeper systemic issues that must be urgently addressed. ”
of 52 page document The report released Oct. 17 is the first final report from more than a dozen ongoing investigations by Congress, the FBI, the DHS Office of Inspector General and other groups. Members include Janet Napolitano, who served as DHS secretary under President Barack Obama. Mark Philip is a former federal judge who served as deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush. Francis Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor to President Bush. David Mitchell, former Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
“Surprisingly easy”
The committee conducted 58 multi-hour interviews, investigated the Butler Farm Show Company site, and collected approximately 7,000 documents.
One of the most shocking aspects of the assassination attempt was the ease with which a young man, barely in his teens, was able to defeat what was supposed to be world-class security.
“The July 13 assassination attempt was not the work of a trained foreign enemy preparing a multidimensional attack and willing to sacrifice itself in the process,” the report said.
“Rather, a young man from his home state of Pennsylvania, who appears to have conceived and carried out the assassination plan within days of the former president's public rally, was able to carry out the Secret Service's 'no-fail' security mission with surprising ease.” succeeded in avoiding it.”
Would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto the roof of American Glass Research shortly after 6 p.m. on July 13 and ran the length of the complex until he reached Building 6, where he suspected a sniper's nest. I made it.
SWAT members attempt to gain access to the roof of the American Glass Research building after former President Donald J. Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Butler Township Police Department (via Judicial Watch)
Pennsylvania State Police troopers saw the crook running on the roof and broadcast a warning over police radio, but Secret Service officials said they did not hear it. Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. He said the first sign of a threat was when Crooks fired the first of eight shots from an AR-15 rifle.
SWAT team operator — Sergeant Aaron M. Zaliponi of the Adams Township Police Department stopped Crooks from attacking him when he shot and damaged the butt of his rifle. Moments later, a Secret Service counter-sniper killed Mr. Crooks before he could attempt any further shots.
President Trump was hit in the ear with the first bullet. Other bullets killed volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore and seriously injured David Dutch and James Copenhaver. According to reports, a total of 10 people were injured in the tragedy, including seven law enforcement officers and one Secret Service agent.
The report said the Secret Service's main failures included failing to secure the roof of the AGR complex, located 130 yards north of the event stage, and preventing the gunman from looking directly at the former president. This includes failure to take measures to prevent
The report said a lack of effective communication between the Secret Service and state and local law enforcement agencies allowed the scammer to escape early detection and led to Trump's security personnel removing him from the podium. He concluded that it served as a deterrent, or even prevented him from taking the podium.
The Butler County Emergency Services Unit had pre-programmed radios in storage for use by various Secret Service personnel, including counter-sniper teams, but the radios were left untouched.
The committee recommended that the Secret Service work out of the same command center as local law enforcement agencies “with integrated real-time incident command and management systems” rather than the separate accommodations used in Butler.
The failure to fly anti-aircraft drones “during critical periods when they could have detected that a fraudster was operating a drone” was due to “a general lack of technology to support the Secret Service's protection mission.” “The panel's deeper concerns about the
Secret Service agents assist former President Donald J. Trump after he was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post, Getty Images
The Secret Service did not conduct drone surveillance for most of the day. According to the FBI, the scammer used his drone to monitor part of the scene for about 11 minutes starting at about 3:50 p.m. Security experts told Blaze News that Mr Crooks was likely checking the planned route to ensure the situation had not changed since he first monitored the scene.
Inexperienced Secret Service personnel were unable to make the anti-drone system work and ended up dying. Call technical support repeatedly According to the House Select Committee Investigating the Donald J. Trump Assassination Attempt, the drone manufacturer:
An independent review panel recommended “a requirement for all outdoor events to be monitored by overhead technology.”
Changes to the site's security plan include better identification of line-of-sight threats and “significant training” on how to use risk-based threat identification systems, rather than basing resource decisions on protected person titles. should be included, the report states.
The committee said it was necessary to purge the Secret Service of its top leadership and bring in a new director from outside the agency. This helps address systemic or cultural issues that manifest themselves in things like lack of critical thinking, lack of ownership of site planning and other issues, and the need for extensive training.
The group also recommended internal reorganization to focus on the Secret Service's protection mission, as opposed to investigations and other functions.
The committee said that additions to the Secret Service's $3.1 billion budget “will be helpful,” but should first focus on “the dialogue surrounding the July 13 failure,” and that the “July 13 The important lessons of the day will be lost.”
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