It was the biggest operational failure of the Secret Service in decades, even though security was only seconds away from foiling the attack. This is how the director of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, assessed the assassination of former President Donald Trump, who testified in the US Congress for over four and a half hours on Monday. She took full responsibility for the events and after sharp criticism she finally resigned from her position today.
Photo: SITA/AP, Rod Lamkey
The head of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, during her testimony before a committee of the US Congress.
“We need to find out what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to make sure that an incident like what happened on July 13th does not happen again,” she told the House Oversight Committee, which includes both Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives.
She also admitted that the attack on Trump was the worst moment for the Secret Service since the failed assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in March 1981.
“I almost always think about what we should have done differently,” Cheatle said. But although the Republican presidential candidate narrowly escaped death in the attack in the Pennsylvania town of Butler, when he escaped with only an injured ear after shooting 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, she praised the courage of his bodyguards.
It only took them three seconds to cover him on the ground with their own bodies. She also highlighted the prompt intervention of the sniper, who quickly neutralized the assassin.
Committee members did not spare Cheatle. They subjected her to very harsh criticism for all the wrongdoings and her evasive answers to the questions put were not enough for them. For example, they were surprised that she still did not find time to visit the crime scene.
“Nine days have passed and you haven’t been there yet?!” You should have gone there already that evening,” Republican congressman Pat Fallon scolded her, according to CNN.
Today, the former head of the Secret Service expects that the assassination investigation will take her office about two months. (Separate investigations are also being conducted by the FBI and the federal Department of Homeland Security).
According to her, the results so far confirm that it was the act of a lone shooter, and she has preliminarily ruled out a conspiracy. As for the agents overseeing Trump’s security, none of them have yet been disciplined.
As Cheatle testified, the Secret Service was indeed alerted to the potential danger several times before Trump’s appearance at a campaign rally.
“I don’t have an exact number to share with you today, but from what I’ve noticed, there’s been about two to five times where there’s been some kind of communication about a suspicious individual,” she estimated, adding that the agents were unaware of a possible threat, when the presidential candidate was brought to the stage.
That they misjudged the possible risk of an attack is their most serious mistake. As Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, reported on social networks, the local police officers had already recorded the suspect 19 minutes before the shooting.
Also according to CNN, the police tried to find this person, but they did not succeed until he appeared on the roof.
The Secret Service received information about the movement of a “suspicious person” already when Trump arrived. He began his speech at 6:05 p.m., as evidenced by videos shot by visitors to the event, four minutes later, several people saw a man with a rifle on the roof about 130 meters from the stage.
They alerted the police, but they didn’t seem to know what to do. One of them eventually climbed up onto the roof with the help of a colleague, where he saw Crooks pointing a gun at him.
“The policeman was in a position where he could not defend himself or hit the attacker because he was holding on to the edge of the roof. He let go and fell to the ground,” local mayor Tom Knights was quoted as saying by CNN.
The police immediately reported the suspect’s location and that he had a rifle, but it was too late – Crooks opened fire moments later.
Cheatle explained that security didn’t act because it was still just a “suspicious person” according to available information. When asked by committee members when a “suspicious person” turned into a “threat,” she replied that only a few seconds before the shooting began.
Reprimanding why the agents did not also monitor the roof from which the bomber attacked, she said that the mentioned building was outside the “perimeter” and therefore the security did not focus on it. At the same time, however, she added that all the circumstances are still under investigation.
While testifying before Congress, Cheatle refused to resign, saying she has been with the Secret Service for 27 years and it’s a job she loves.
“I think I’m the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,” she emphasized. However, the pressure on her was so strong that today she changed her decision and announced her resignation.
“I accept full responsibility for the security failure,” Cheatle said in an email to employees. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to resign as your director,” she added.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
