House Panel Finds Trump Butler Assassination Attempt Was 'Preventable'

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Facts

  • The US House panel probing the July assassination attempt on former Pres. Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., released a preliminary report Monday, finding 'a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners before the rally.'[1]
  • It said the pre-rally security 'walkthrough' between the Secret Service (USSS) and local police was 'mismanaged.' One local police commander told the committee the walkthrough was not 'organized' and 'just a bunch of people sort of milling around.'[2]
  • It said three officers were aware of the 'suspicious' behavior of the shooter, Thomas Crooks, more than an hour before the shooting. While their warnings about Crooks were sent to the USSS, the panel found no evidence that they were received by Trump's immediate protective detail.[2][3]
  • Regarding the American Glass Research (AGR) building, from which Crooks fired at Trump, it cited local law enforcement's claim that their 'assignment' was to watch over the 'rally site' and not 'the AGR roof and property.'[1][4]
  • The report concluded that the USSS was ultimately at fault for not taking charge of securing the event site, which was a similar conclusion to previous reports from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Senate.[3]
  • In response, a USSS spokesman said 'many' of the report's findings 'align' with the agency's internal investigation, adding that Acting USSS Director Ron Rowe 'has developed a plan for an agency-wide paradigm shift.'[5]

Sources: [1]CBS, [2]New York Post, [3]New York Times, [4]Technical.ly and [5]The Hill.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Youtube. The USSS is beyond responsible for this, as they are the primary line of defense for Donald Trump. Besides the rooftop, which anyone with common sense would have protected right away, there were many other elevated sites that the agency should've taken care of before that rally. The USSS has all the technology to monitor these threats, from drones to thermal cameras, but they simply chose not to.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Secretservice and Atlantic Council. While impassioned thoughts and remarks about this situation are understandable, the American people should rest assured that the USSS is already implementing changes with respect to personnel, communications, and technology. The USSS, as well as the Dept. of Homeland Security, is also in dire need of more funding, and while that's no excuse, it's a sound national security proposal that everyone can certainly agree upon.