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Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
Kimberly Cheatle during a presser to review a U.S. government report on mass attacks in public spaces”, which examines targeted violence from 2016-2020, at the National Press Club in Washington, Jan 24, 2023. (Reuters)
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle defends the agency’s failure to station an agent on the roof where a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump
The director of the US Secret Service has sparked a debate online after a somewhat bizarre explanation for why an agent was not stationed on the roof where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on former President Donald Trump.
Kimberly Cheatle, who faces calls for resignation over the security failure, revealed that the U.S. security agency—which provides round-the-clock protection to sitting and former presidents—considered the roof of a nearby warehouse too risky for an agent’s placement during Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
NEW: Secret Service director Kim Cheatle, good friend of Jill Biden and the new face of America’s competency crisis, didn’t post snipers on the roof where Trump was shot at because it was a sloped roof and she was afraid someone might slip and fall.You can’t make this stuff up. pic.twitter.com/XEkonoRh2p
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 16, 2024
On Sunday, Crooks, 20, scaled the building and took position on the roof, where he fired at Trump, hitting him in the ear and killing a rally attendee. Cheatle explained to ABC News that the decision not to place an agent on the roof was due to its sloped design, which was deemed too dangerous for a security post. Instead, the Secret Service chose to secure the building from the inside.
The lapse in security allowed Crooks to evade both police and Secret Service agents, despite having been flagged as suspicious. Witnesses reported seeing Crooks climb onto the roof with his AR-style rifle, but security officials failed to act in time to prevent the attack.
Cheatle acknowledged that the US Secret Service was aware of the building’s vulnerabilities but maintained that no personnel were assigned to the roof. She stressed that the rapid unfolding of events and the challenges in locating Crooks contributed to the failure. Cheatle stated, “The buck stops with me. It was unacceptable, and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Former FBI special agent Kenneth Gray slammed the Secret Service for its poor handling of the situation, suggesting that the agency’s recent focus on increasing diversity may have impacted its operational effectiveness. Republicans and other critics are calling for a thorough investigation into the incident. House Judiciary Committee member Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota stated, “Somebody, somewhere has a lot of serious questions to answer.”
Cheatle’s handling of the incident has drawn scrutiny, especially since she was not present at the initial FBI press conference. US President Joe Biden has expressed confidence in the Secret Service’s commitment but questioned whether the agency could have anticipated the attack. He stressed that the Secret Service members who responded were willing to risk their lives but left open the question of whether they should have prevented the incident. Meanwhile, the probe into the shooting is being overseen by the Justice Department, not Homeland Security.
