The House Task Force on Donald Trump’s attempted assassination at Butler, Pennsylvania, and West Palm Beach, Florida, has finally released a damning report highlighting the Secret Service’s complacency in protecting the incoming president.
It paints a grim picture of how the security service overlooked basic principles, including communication, unity of command, and tactical operations, putting potential assassins leaps and bounds ahead. “The Task Force found that the tragic and shocking events in Butler, Pennsylvania were preventable and should not have happened,” the report stated.
About Trump’s wounding at Butler, the report found systemic planning, execution, and leadership failures that undermined the security service’s effectiveness, putting everyone in grave danger.
“The various failures in planning, execution, and leadership on and before July 13, 2024, and the preexisting conditions that undermined the effectiveness of the human and material assets deployed that day, coalesced to create an environment in which the former President—and everyone at the campaign event—were exposed to grave danger.”
Similarly, the Task Force uncovered the lack of protective measures that could have spared Trump’s life in the case of an attempted assassination. “Conversely, the events that transpired on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination.”
On September 15, when someone allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump in Florida, his team had informed the Secret Service that he intended to gold at 12:30 pm. That request was made at 2:30 am.
However, Trump moved up his anticipated arrival by one hour and arrived at 11 a.m. However, the suspected assassin was not detected until 1:30 p.m., although he had taken position since 1.59 a.m., before the request was even made.
The agent who noticed the suspected shooter was five feet away when he noticed the barrel of a gun. He fired six shots and struck naught. However, the Secret Service has yet to confirm the actual number of shots fired, another embarrassing failure by the elite security service to account for ammunition spent.
Meanwhile, a “humorless” Secret Service boss was demonized for requiring a two-week notice from any agent wishing to take leave.
After online trolling when the emails were leaked – another security failure, he later apologized, although his “harsh” exchanges highlighted the frustrations of managing a broken system.
Similarly, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after an embarrassing Congressional hearing.
Additionally, Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe’s attempts to play the “I’m a public servant” card did not paint an impressive picture of one of the country’s elite security apparatus.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) had pressed Rowe about the apparent failures that endangered everybody’s life under his watch while auditioning for the job. “You know why you were there, because you wanted to be visible, because you are auditioning for this job that you’re not [going] to get,” Rep Fallon lashed out.
“I am a public servant who has served this nation and spent time on our country’s darkest day,” Rowe said in defense.
Regardless of the excuses that Rowe and other Secret Service operatives make, the end result screamed incompetence when an assassin had nearly half a day to lay in wait for his intended victim.
