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Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. speaks during a press conference as the FBI investigates what they said was an apparent assassination attempt in Florida on Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. September 16, 2024.
Panel investigating Secret Service releases damning report
On Thursday, the independent, bipartisan panel created after the first assassination attempt released a 52-page report calling for new leadership because the protective agency had become “bureaucratic, complacent, and static.” While Secret Service personnel risk their lives to protect high-ranking government officials, the panel uncovered rampant cultural failures at the agency and concluded that without fundamental reform, “another Butler can and will happen again.” Among other comprehensive recommendations, they said the entire top leadership should be replaced with personnel from outside the agency “as soon as is practicable.”
The panel said that agents “deflected blame” for obvious security failures at the Pennsylvania rally and on the golf course. In Butler, they uncovered that “no fewer than nine” Secret Service agents were aware that the gunman, Thomas Mathew Crooks, was acting suspiciously before the shooting.
With the threat of increased political violence looming in the run-up to the US election, the service has boosted Trump’s security to the highest levels – equal to those of Kamala Harris — adding agents and equipment such as protective glass at his campaign events. Nevertheless, this report will likely lead to a historic overhaul of the agency over the next several months.
Law enforcement officers on the scene after reports of shots fired outside Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump's Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15, 2024.
Trump safe after possible assassination attempt
Donald Trump is safe after a gunman was apprehended near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday. The FBI confirms that it “responded to and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.”
According to authorities, Trump was golfing between holes five and six when the incident occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. A member of the former president’s Secret Service detail spotted the barrel of a rifle pointing out from behind the tree line one or two holes ahead and fired at the suspect. It is not clear whether the suspect returned fire, but he fled in an SUV that was later stopped by law enforcement.
The suspect is now in custody and has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii. Routh reportedly voted for Trump in 2016 but in 2020 tweeted that, “I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment [sic] and it seems you are getting worse and devolving ... I will be glad when you gone.” Routh frequently posted about politics, expressing support for Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. He is also listed as donating to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019. “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose,” he wrote in an April 22 X post.
Routh’s social media accounts also described his “self-proclaimed involvement” in the war in Ukraine, including efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight in the war against Russia. Routh headed the International Volunteer Center in Ukraine, a private organization seeking to “empower volunteers” and other non-profit groups that work to “enhance the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine,” according to the IVC's website.
Routh had also reportedly been arrested eight times for minor offenses in Greensboro, NC, where he worked in construction, and the AP reported that Routh was convicted in 2002 of possessing a weapon of mass destruction but could not provide details about the case. In 2015, he fled Greensboro police after a traffic stop and barricaded himself inside a roofing business with a fully automatic machine gun.
The suspect is now in custody, and the State Attorney reports that prosecutors are working up warrants, charges, and arrangements for pre-trial detention, none of which preclude the possibility of federal charges. The FBI recovered an AK47-style rifle with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro attached to a fence, possibly intended to film the scene.
According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Trump was approximately 300-500 yards from the shooter. “With a rifle and a scope like that, it’s not a long distance ... The Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the incident Sunday afternoon, and Harris expressed relief that Trump was safe, stating on social media that “violence has no place in America.”
In a fundraising email sent after the incident, Trump told supporters that “there were gunshots in my vicinity,” that he was safe, and that he “will NEVER SURRENDER.”
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle
Secret Service chief declines to answer questions about Trump shooting
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle fought to save her job Monday as she testified before the House oversight committee about the security lapses that led to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump and the death of a spectator at a rally in Butler, PA, on July 13.
Cheatle, facing mounting pressure to resign, declined to answer questions about how many agents were assigned to protect the former president and how the almost-assassin managed to bring a firearm near the event or access the warehouse roof from which he fired. She also did not explain why Trump was allowed onstage despite warnings about a suspicious person. Cheatle said she was not being evasive but was trying to provide accurate information.
Rep. Tim Burchettaccused Cheatle of being “a D.E.I. horror story,” referring to the left’s “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs that have helped add gender diversity to the Secret Service. However, no evidence has surfaced to show that female agents acted improperly.
Democratic leaders, meanwhile, expressed frustration over Cheatle’s unanswered questions, but some also questioned why American gun violence wasn’t the main focus of the investigation.
Calls for Cheatle’s resignation have come from both sides of the aisle, and her limited responses are likely to fuel suspicions of a possible cover-up. Meanwhile, Homeland Security is also conducting an independent review of the security breakdown at the request of President Joe Biden.
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle speaks at a press conference by the U.S. Secret Service about the Republican National Convention on Thursday June 6, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wis.
Will new Secret Service admission cost Cheatle her job?
The US Secret Service has now admitted to denying some security requests from Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign over the past few years. Before the assassination attempt against the former president last week, Secret Service agents in Trump’s detail had also requested more snipers and specialty teams at other outdoor events, which top officials at the agency denied due to a lack of resources and staffing shortages.
The change of narrative turns up the heat on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is set to testify before a House committee hearing on Monday about the assassination attempt. Questions include why the would-be assassin was not apprehended prior to the attack despite being flagged by a Secret Service counter-sniper 20 minutes before.
While Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas maintains thathis confidence in Cheatle is “100%”, a slew of Republicans, as well as a Democrat,Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, have called for her resignation. President Joe Biden, while supporting Cheatle, has ordered an independent investigation.
At a House briefing last week, Cheatle admitted the Secret Service fell short at a “no fail” mission but so farhas no plans to resign. We’ll see if that changes this week – and what other information comes to light at the hearing.Members of the U.S. Secret Service Counter Sniper team stand guard near Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., July 15, 2024.
DHS to probe Secret Service over Trump shooting
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general announced it was investigating the Secret Service’s handling of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The office did not say precisely when it opened the investigation, which will run parallel to the independent review ordered by President Joe Biden.
The probe will focus on how the Secret Service failed to prevent the gunman from climbing onto a nearby roof with a clear shot at the former president. While there is no known connection between Iran and the shooter — whose motive remains murky — Saturday’s attack occurred at a time when the White House, Secret Service, and Trump campaign were reportedly aware of an alleged Iranian plot to kill Trump.
The security failure has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly from Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnsonurged Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to resign, and the House Oversight Committee said it would subpoena her if she failed to appear voluntarily for a hearing next Monday. Meanwhile, just 20% of Americans polled say they are “very confident” the Service can do its most important job.
U. S. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
Did Saturday’s shooting make Trump unstoppable?
A picture may be worth a thousand votes – or more. The image of Republican nominee Donald Trump’s blood-streaked face, fist raised defiantly beneath a giant American flag,may help him win the election. A young man, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, took aim from a rooftop near a Trump rally in Butler, PA, on Saturday, firing multiple shots before being “neutralized.” He hit the former president’s right ear, killing one spectator and injuring another two. Questions are being raised as to how an armed Crooks could have gotten so close to Trump.
Trump’s vigorous response, meanwhile, hasenergized his base and further highlighted the contrast between him and the more frail President Joe Biden.
According to William Hill, a UK-based betting company, Trump's odds of winning rose from 8/15 (65.2%) before the shooting to 4/11 (73.3%) after it. And in financial markets, trades betting on his victory arepredicted to increase this coming week.
But the shooting could also herald more political violence and social instability, according to Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer. “This is the kind of thing we have seen historically in lots of countries facing instability and frequently does not end well.”
Already, Ohio Sen. and Trump VP hopeful JD Vance hasblamed Biden for the attack.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance posted on X. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.”
Biden, for his part, addressed the nation on Sunday to condemn the shooting, and his campaign has ceased its negative campaigns. “No matter how strong our convictions, we must never descend to violence,” he said.
What will this mean for campaign security?
Expect it to be stepped up. Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) announced Saturday thatthey would introduce bipartisan legislation providing Trump, President Joe Biden, and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. with enhanced Secret Service protection. RNC convention security plans are also being re-examined.
An investigation is already underway. The Secret Service will be asked to explain how the shooter got so close to Trump – and investigators will establish the order of events, determining how the shooter gained access to the roof and whether rallygoers’ warnings about seeing a man with a gun went unheeded. Director Kimberly Cheatlehas been summoned to testify before a committee of the US House of Representatives on July 22. Meanwhile, the Secret Service has denied claims that it rebuffed requests from Trump’s team for heavier security in recent weeks.
A private security force?
With mistrust of the Secret Service running high in Republican circles, could they push for Trump to re-establish his own private security force? Possibly, and there is precedent.
Trump retained private security during his 2016 campaign when he was not eligible for Secret Service protection. After his election, he continued to engage his long-time head of security, retired New York City police officer and Navy veteran Keith Schiller, as a private bodyguard, which broke protocol and sparked some controversy. Schiller left the White House in October 2017, but his security company,KS Global Group LLC, was subsequently hired by the Republican National Committee to consult on security at the RNC’s 2020 convention.
To read more about what happened and what’s likely to come next, click here. Watch Ian Bremmer’s Quick Take here for his insights about the assassination attempt. And be sure to look back at two notable examples in history when a sitting or former US president survived being hit by an assassin’s bullet here.