Bethal Park, Pennsylvania – Rep. Michael Guest said the U.S. Secret Service could have afforded to use drones but chose not to at the fateful Pennsylvania rally that turned into an assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Senator Guest (R-MS) told Fox News Digital that he had been briefed by lawmakers that no counter-drone attacks were conducted by the Secret Service or the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) in preparation for or during his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republican lawmakers acknowledged that the PSP has access to drones but said they have not been requested to do so.
“The Secret Service was in charge of the operational planning,” he said. “They made the decision that day not only not to fly the drone, but also not to have officers on top of the water tower.”
Timeline: Trump assassination attempt
Secret Service agents and crowds take cover after gunfire erupts at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Rep. Michael Guest, R-Mississippi, discussed attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ use of drones before and during a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images/File)
Congressman Guest, along with 10 other bipartisan lawmakers, visited the rally site on July 22. He noticed a water tower inside the building at the Butler Farm Show where President Trump held the rally.
“Based on the scene, there was a water tower about 100 yards from where the shooter was located and if police had had someone up on that water tower they could have seen the entire area from that elevated position,” he said.
“Obviously they did not have aerial surveillance that day, either with a drone or someone in a high enough position to overlook and cover the rally. This is another failure.”
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle leaves the room after testifying about the assassination attempt on former President Trump at a House Oversight Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2024. She resigned from her position the next day. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)
Guest said Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned on Tuesday after facing bipartisan criticism over the security response to the rally, used the excuse that there were not enough personnel in place to provide adequate protection for former President Trump and those attending.
“We heard the director’s excuse that he thought the roof was too steep and would pose a safety risk to the officers,” he said. “But that’s obviously not true. I was there and 70-year-old Congressman Carlos Gimenez walked across the roof with ease.”
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Guest said the Secret Service’s planning, execution and leadership had been a “huge failure.”
“I believe that three egregious failures that day — the planning, the execution of that plan and leadership — led to the shooting of President Donald Trump,” he said.
Secret Service members and a crowd attend a rally for President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Guest noted that Congress increased the Secret Service’s budget this year, swelling it to more than $3 billion.
“Congress increased the Secret Service’s budget knowing that this is a presidential year and the service will need additional resources, additional personnel,” he said.
“We actually provided resources beyond what they requested to ensure that they were prepared for the details of the protections that they would have to provide to both the presidential and vice presidential nominees,” he said.
This photo shows the crowd at a rally for former President Trump before the shooting. (Fox News)
Guest noted that the dates of major rallies, party conventions and elections “should not have been a surprise to the Secret Service.”
“They were not prepared,” he said, “and I believe the blame for that lies with the director and leadership of the Secret Service.”
FBI investigating ‘improper’ Trump shooting by agency officials, director says
Guest said if the Secret Service feels it doesn’t have enough resources to protect U.S. leaders, it should tell Congress.
“This is an agency tasked with protecting federal elected officials. That’s their number one priority,” he said. “This is just an excuse to shift the blame to the fact that there weren’t resources available.”
“If they don’t have enough money in their budget to protect their elected officials, let the Legislature know so we can allocate the funds so they can do their jobs,” Guest said. “And they’ve failed to do that.”
An FBI spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the agency is “dedicating significant resources” to the investigation into the Trump rally shooting. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana/File)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, an FBI spokesperson said the agency is “dedicating significant resources” to investigating the shooting.
“Since the day of the attack, the FBI has consistently and unequivocally maintained that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump, resulting in the wounding of the president, the death of a heroic father, and the injury of several other victims,” the FBI said in a statement.
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“FBI Director Wray provided detailed testimony before Congress on the FBI’s investigation on Wednesday,” they said. “This was a heinous attack, and the FBI is dedicating enormous resources to learning everything possible about the shooter and what led to that act of violence. The FBI’s shooting reconstruction team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation is ongoing.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Secret Service.
