Why is the US Secret Service under scrutiny after Trump assassination bid? (2024)

Questions are mounting about the role of the United States Secret Service in a “massive security breach” at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, during which a shooter tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

Trump, who was confirmed as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Monday, was grazed in the ear when a 20-year-old suspect identified as Thomas Mathew Crooks allegedly shot at him from the rooftop of a nearby building. Crooks was shot dead by the Secret Service shortly afterwards.

Trump was declared “fine” by his campaign moments later, but one male attendee was killed, and two other rally-goers were wounded in the attack.

Here is what we know so far about the role of the Secret Service, which has responsibility for the safety of presidents, former presidents and presidential candidates:

Is security at the rally being investigated?

Yes. President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review of the security plan at the rally, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, confirmed on Monday.

The investigation comes amid worries about security at this week’s RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The convention, where Trump named Senator JD Vance as his running mate for the November presidential election, usually allows attendees to carry guns. However, security officials have now said a “hard” no-guns zone in the 17,500-capacity Fiserv Forum building and its immediate vicinity is being enforced this time. An outer perimeter, or “soft” zone, around the arena will allow guns, according to Wisconsin state law.

The RNC began on Monday and will end on Thursday.

An inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the shooter and the security of the campaign rally in Pennsylvania is also ongoing. So far, the FBI has only confirmed that it searched the shooter’s home and car and found explosives in both locations.

Phil Andrew, a former FBI agent and head of the Pax Group security consulting firm, told Al Jazeera the FBI investigation would likely seek to understand what went wrong to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“They are constantly evolving and trying to adapt to new situations, new circ*mstances and new threats,” he said. “There will be some insights learned and some augmentations to how they deploy, perhaps how many deploy and what takes place in terms of coordinating very carefully with local law enforcement.”

Republicans in the House of Representatives are planning hearings into how the attempt on Trump’s life could have happened at all.

“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Representative Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday.

Who is in charge of Trump’s security?

The US Secret Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is primarily in charge of protecting Trump as a former president and presidential candidate. Its protection extends to covering candidates at rallies.

In a bid to combat rumours that the Secret Service had reduced Trump’s protection over the course of his campaign rallies, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Sunday that the service had in fact increased personnel and equipment as the presidential campaigns increased in tempo.

In a statement on Monday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said the agency was working to understand what happened and would cooperate fully with the FBI’s investigation.

“The Secret Service is tasked with the tremendous responsibility of protecting the current and former leaders of our democracy. It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously, and I am committed to fulfilling that mission,” she said.

What do we know about security at Trump’s campaign rally?

A typical rally for a major presidential candidate would have a mixture of Secret Service and local law enforcement teams who are required to collaborate and provide support to each other.

Members of the Secret Service’s countersniper team, or Hercules team, as it is code-named as well as the counterassault Hawkeye team were at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, according to two law enforcement officials quoted by The Associated Press news agency.

Local US media also reported that two more sniper teams were provided by local law enforcement in Pennsylvania.

How was Trump being protected?

Andrew, the former FBI agent, told Al Jazeera that it is as yet unclear how many security personnel were manning Trump himself but there are typically three “rings” of protection.

The first and most important is the inner ring of agents who can physically shield the protectee physically. A second team works on the perimeters of an event, ensuring no one is carrying a weapon, and a third team is focused on the external perimeters and uses long-range binoculars and sniper rifles to deal with long-range threats. It is unclear how many individual agents are in each team.

The third ring is where operations can become “shaky”, Andrew said.

“In some cases, those areas aren’t fully cleared as they are in those first two rings, where they’ve been searched before, a dog has gone through and they’ve made sure there are no explosives or someone didn’t leave something that they could pick up later,” he explained.

“Those other areas are less scrutinised, but they should be manned and patrolled,” Andrew said. It “seems reasonable” to consider the breach occurred in that perimeter, he said.

What went wrong?

Former, unnamed Secret Service agents speaking to the AP news agency said Crooks should never have been allowed to gain access to the rooftop from which he fired, which was 150 metres (500ft) from Trump and which would typically be under surveillance. They said such a lapse could have been caused by officers neglecting their posts or because of a flaw in the event’s security plan.

Andrew told Al Jazeera the breach was likely to have emerged in the gaps that exist when different security agencies have to collaborate in energy-intensive and repetitive events like campaign rallies.

Andrew said there were two likely reasons why such a breach could have happened: The Secret Service was overstretched, and there were communications and skills gaps between its teams and local and state officers.

“During these campaign seasons, there are multiple teams, and they become stretched in these campaign events because of the frequency and the need for doing pre-assessment and then the actual protection. … That’s both time-consuming and resource-intensive, so the Secret Service’s resources are stretched,” he said.

The Secret Service also relies “heavily” on collaboration with local law enforcement, he added.

“The reality is with 18,000 different law enforcement agencies in the United States, there is going to be some variation. One agency is not necessarily going to have the same level of training, vigilance, professionalism as others,” Andrew said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Secret Service said it was not putting any blame on local law enforcement officers.

“Our agency relies on the support of courageous police officers and local partners. We are deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment and bravery. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not true,” the statement read.

Our agency relies on the support of courageous police officers and local partners. We are deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment and bravery. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not true. pic.twitter.com/m7m6raCleW

— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) July 16, 2024

Did police and Secret Service teams spot the shooter before the attempt?

A security source told CNN the shooter was initially spotted acting suspiciously by local police near metal detectors at an entrance to the rally. The officers reported this to other units over their radio and passed on the information to the Secret Service as well, according to the source.

Several witnesses said they reported an armed man outside the rally venue before the attack.

One rally-goer speaking to the BBC said he was at an elevated position listening to Trump’s speech outside the rally venue when he noticed an armed man jumping from roof to roof near him. The witness said he alerted officials down below, but they appeared not to understand. He also said he believed Secret Service agents with binoculars likely saw him pointing at the shooter but their locations could have prevented them from seeing the armed man.

What criticisms have been levelled at security officers?

Not responding to the shooter quickly enough before the attempt: Multiple Trump supportershave raised questions on social media platforms about how law enforcement officers reacted when the shooter was first noticed and reported by rally-goers outside the campaign venue.

According to the AP, the tip sparked a search but officers were unable to find the shooter before he managed to reach a roof where he opened fire.

Officials told local media that one law enforcement officer tried to climb onto a spot to engage the shooter but was forced to drop back to the ground when the shooter aimed at him because he was not in a position to wield his gun. The shooter then aimed at the stage.

Not eliminating lines of sight: Experts said one of the main functions of security teams is to eliminate lines of sight, especially in outdoor spaces that are uncontrolled, like the location of the Trump rally. These include high-rise buildings, rooftops and other vantage points within shooting range.

Analysts said the shooter’s location was in “obvious” sight lines and should have been manned.

“It does seem from my assessment that the rooftop that the assailant was on was in the line of sight of the countermeasure teams,” Andrew said, adding that this is likely to be a key question the investigation will seek to answer.

Not evacuating Trump safely: If there is gunfire, Secret Service agents are trained to cover and evacuate the target immediately, but there have been criticisms that this did not happen correctly in Trump’s case.

“It’s shocking that the Secret Service allowed his full body and head to be exposed seconds like this seconds after attack,” Business Post correspondent Marion McKeone wrote on X.

The former president’s head and body did appear to be visible as he was whisked away, and the president managed to reach through the human wall around him and punch the air in a show of defiance.

Andrew, however, said that going on his own experience, the Secret Service reacted “incredibly” quickly when they moved to put themselves between Trump and the shooter. But, he added, “it looked like there was confusion between the protective team and the protectee.” That, he said, is usually because some protectees, like Trump in this case, do not always follow safety protocols despite being drilled to do so.

“The reality is you just don’t know how you’re going to react until you’ve been exposed to these types of things. Clearly, in law enforcement and the Secret Service and other protectors, they go through a lot of training to build a level of muscle memory, to respond to something that is so shocking, so that they will do what they’ve trained to do. And that’s harder to expect from a protectee,” Andrew said.

Which recent assassination attempts have been thwarted?

The Secret Service and FBI have been involved in security and investigations in a long list of assassinations and assassination attempts on presidents and presidential candidates over the decades.

More recently, in 2020, the FBI announced it had foiled an attempt by a group of 14 people to kidnap and possibly assassinate Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

Several members of the group belonged to a far-right militia called the Wolverine Watchmen. The plot was uncovered after Whitmer had become a target of verbal attacks from politicians on the right, including Trump, for her strict COVID-19 rules.