‘There Was Complacency’: Acting Secret Service Director Vows to Hold Agents ‘Accountable’ For ‘Failure’ to Protect Trump
The acting head of the U.S. Secret Service vowed to hold agents “accountable” after they failed to execute their duties in protecting former President Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania campaign rally on July 13th.
Back in July, the GOP nominee faced his first assassination attempt when a gunman fired a bullet that grazed his ear. The gunman also shot and killed one rally attendee while injuring two other supporters who were behind Trump on stage. The gunman was visible to rally attendees and law enforcement in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
Last week, Trump faced a second assassination attempt when an individual hid in a bush with a gun at the property line of his West Palm Beach golf club.
During a Friday press conference, acting director Ronald Rowe noted that the event in July “was a failure on the part of the U.S. Secret Service.” Rowe told reporters:
It’s important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13th and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this again. The findings of the mission assurance review have prompted the Secret Service to move into the accountability phase of this process. The Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of Integrity are reviewing the findings. And as a result of these failures, what has become clear to me is we need a shift in paradigm and how we conduct our productive operations. As was demonstrated on Sunday in West Palm Beach. The threat level is evolving and requires this paradigm shift.
But here are some of the findings from this mission Assurance review with respect to command and control of the site in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service has the main responsibility of building the site plan. We cannot abdicate or defer our responsibilities to others. Advance team personnel have an obligation to ensure that each site meets the protective requirements and principles of Secret Service methodologies. The Secret Service did not give clear guidance or direction to our local law enforcement partners. There are communication deficiencies between law enforcement personnel at the site…
Secret Service counter snipers neutralize the threat. With respect to diligence. Line of sight issues were acknowledged but not properly mitigated. Issues were encountered the day of the visit with respect to line of sight concerns, but they were not escalated to supervisors. While some members of the advance team were very diligent. There was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols. With respect to accountability. The Mission Assurance review has identified deficiencies in the advance planning and its implementation by Secret Service personnel. These employees will be held accountable, and this agency has among the most robust stable of penalties in the entirety of the federal government. And these penalties will be administered according to our disciplinary process. Due to federal regulations. I cannot get into personnel matters as they are proceeding.
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
