The Secret Service suspended six agents without pay for their conduct during the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly a year ago. Confirmation of the suspensions come just days before the one-year anniversary of the shooting on July 13, 2024. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers on site.
The agency issued the suspensions, which ranged from 10 to 42 days and included both people in supervisory roles and line-level agents, following an investigation into the assassination attempt in which a gunman’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear. It is unclear when the agents were formally suspended, but it is said to have happened in recent months, with the agents given the right to appeal.
Multiple Secret Service officials were placed on leave for their actions before and after the assassination attempt, including the special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office (who was tasked with coordinating security with local law enforcement ahead of the rally). Almost immediately after the assassination attempt, lawmakers questioned the security failures that gave a 20-year-old gunman the opportunity to target and shoot Trump and kill firefighter Corey Comperatore, in what federal officials called an act of potential domestic terrorism.
The assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and a second, foiled attempt against Mr. Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, a few weeks later, spurred the resignation of then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle 10 days after the attack after facing strong criticism for the agency’s actions.
The Department of Homeland Security did an independent review of the event: “The Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission. The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved.”
A 180-page report released by a bipartisan House task force in December found that the security lapses that led to the first incident were “not isolated to the campaign event itself,” with lawmakers noting that “preexisting issues in leadership and training created an environment” in which the failures could occur, like giving significant responsibilities to Secret Service personnel with little to no experience in advanced planning roles. “Lawmakers also noted a lack of coordination and planning between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners. The events of July 13, 2024, were tragic and preventable, and the litany of related security failures are unacceptable.”
Editorial credit: Adam McCullough / Shutterstock.com