Not since the assassination attempt of the late US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., has there been an attempt on the life of a president or presidential nominee prior to last week. A 20-year-old male with no criminal history borrowed his father's rifle, made his way onto the roof of a warehouse 150 yards from where former President Donald J. Trump was speaking at a rally, and managed to shoot Mr. Trump, causing mass panic at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, President Trump survived the assassination attempt. The question of properly securing the site by the United States Secret Service remains in doubt.
As a retired American Diplomat and federal agent in the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, I've conducted hundreds of protective security operations throughout my 20-year career, both in the U.S. and abroad in countries like Egypt, Bangladesh, and Iraq. I've read all the blogs and scores of reporting on the incident, yet questions remain. Was the Secret Serviced security detail understaffed or underfunded? Was the building from where the shooter positioned himself in clear line-of-site of Mr. Trump outside the security perimeter? Was securing the rooftop the sole responsibility of the local police and not the Secret Service? Did the Secret Service security team keep Mr. Trump on the stage too long after he was shot? Was the stash car – the black Chevrolet used to take Mr. Trump away from the rally – parked too far away from where he was speaking, resulting in a delayed evacuation? What happened to the Secret Service Use of Force Continuum? Was a proper vulnerability assessment of the venue conducted and, if so, how could the shooter possibly manage to climb onto a roof and present a threat?
The US Secret Service has a massive budget. I've worked side-by-side with the Secret Service on security details involving multiple VIPs and, time and time again, the Secret Service security teams are overstaffed, not understaffed. The argument that they didn't have enough agents to get the job done doesn't hold water. Yes, many times we do enlist the help of local police to secure a site, search vehicles, and conduct K-9 sweeps of the area. This, however, does not mean that the lead agency responsible for securing the site – the Secret Service – should leave such a critical aspect of managing the risk at any event up to the local police. In an interview with NBC news after the incident, US Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle stated, "There was local police in that building – there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building."
Make no mistake about it, the US Secret Service was responsible for every aspect of security at Mr. Trump's rally including positioning the local police and providing directions to them so that vulnerabilities were mitigated. In this case, Secret Service failed to do so, and it resulted in the biggest security debacle the United States, and the world, has ever witnessed. As a retired federal agent and member of the Diplomatic Security Service, it pains me to see a security team fail so badly. The rooftop from which the shooter nearly took the life of Mr. Trump was clearly a vulnerability and was clearly the sole responsibility of the Secret Service. To suggest otherwise is asinine.
I do not believe this was a setup by Director Cheatle and the Secret Service to eliminate the man who will likely be the next President of the United States. To spread rumors and conjecture before an investigation into the epic failure in security would be inappropriate. But it's not only Ms. Cheatle who should be held accountable. The Secret Service Agent-in-Charge of Mr. Trump's protective security detail has some explaining to do as well. Either way, the world sees the current president, Joe Biden, as weak and incoherent. The world sees the Secret Service as incapable of protecting a presidential candidate. The world sees the political structure in Washington, DC, and in America as a model to avoid.