‘What I saw made me ashamed’: Head of Secret Service will address security failures in hearing on Trump assassination attempt
By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — The US Secret Service is adjusting how it approves security plans and bolstering security measures for protectees in the wake of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump earlier this month, according to excerpts of congressional testimony Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe will deliver Tuesday.
Rowe, who visited the site of the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month, will tell senators from the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees: “What I saw made me ashamed. As a career law enforcement officer, and a twenty-five-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”
According to the prepared remarks, Rowe has directed the Secret Service to have multiple experienced supervisors go through each security plan for all future protected sites and events.
Rowe visited the scene of the assassination attempt as one of his first actions as acting director “to better understand how our protection failed,” he will testify.
“I inspected the site and the AGR building. I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots and laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight,” he will say.
Rowe, who took charge of the Secret Service after Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation, is also set to give more details to lawmakers on the security failures that led to the assassination attempt at Trump’s July 13 rally.
Cheatle resigned last week after refusing to provide clear answers to members of Congress over the same issue of security lapses and said in several interviews that the Secret Service failed in its job to protect Trump that day and took full responsibility.
The Secret Service has also elevated security for protectees, according to Rowe’s excerpts, and are reinforcing details and conducting threat assessments to see what other adjustments are necessary.
“In addition, substantial federal, state, and local security assets will be deployed in a coordinated effort to safeguard upcoming National Special Security Events, and we will make sure our protection of the Democratic National Convention, like our recent protection of the Republican National Convention, is strong and effective,” Rowe will say, according to the released excerpts.
Text messages released and radio chatter detailed Monday show that law enforcement officers lost sight of Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and further illustrate the confused communications around tracking him at the rally.
According to documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office, law enforcement officers knew of and raised the shooter’s presence at the rally more than 90 minutes before he climbed onto a roof and fired eight rounds at Trump.
Grassley also released the Beaver County ESU’s after-action report of the shooting and Butler Emergency Services Unit’s plan that detailed the responsibilities of federal and local law enforcement during the rally. It’s unclear what the full extent of the security planning was that day, and these documents only provide a glimpse into how local law enforcement saw their roles that day.
The Secret Service has not released its operational plan of the rally.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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