Our Biggest Failure of Last Few Decades: US Secret Service Chief on "Trump Assassination Attempt"
- By Thetripurapost Web Desk, Washington
- Jul 22, 2024
- 313
After this incident of firing during the election rally, American lawmakers are very angry about the security. The lawmakers are showing their anger on how a gunman reached so close to the presidential candidate, whereas he should have been given very strict security by the agency.
The director of the Secret Service has had to testify before the US Congress regarding the deadly attack on former President and candidate Donald Trump during the US presidential election campaign.
During her appearance, Director Kimberly Cheatle said that this attempt to assassinate Trump is the agency's 'biggest failure' in the last few decades.
She takes full responsibility for any security lapses by the agency after the attack on Trump's rally.
The director of the Secret Service said the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was the agency's "biggest failure" in decades. "On July 13, we failed," she told US lawmakers during a hearing before Congress on Monday. Cheatle said she takes full responsibility for the agency's mistakes related to the deadly attack on Trump during a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month.
Cheatle was testifying before a congressional committee on Monday as calls for her resignation grew after the security failure at the rally, where a 20-year-old gunman tried to assassinate Republican leader and former President Donald Trump.
Cheatle appeared before lawmakers for the first time in the House Oversight Committee after the shooting at the Pennsylvania rally on July 13. A supporter was killed in this incident. Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a bullet from the roof of a nearby building which hit Trump's ear while two other people present there were injured in the attack.
After this firing incident, American lawmakers are very angry about security. Lawmakers are showing their displeasure over how a gunman got so close to the Republican presidential candidate, when he should have been given careful security by the agency.
However, the Secret Service has admitted that it had rejected some requests by Trump's campaign to increase security at his events in the years before this assassination attempt.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called what happened a “failure,” while several lawmakers have called for Cheatle to resign or for President Joe Biden to fire her. The Secret Service has said Cheatle has no intention of stepping down. She has the support of President Biden, a Democrat, and Mayorkas.
Before the attack, local police officers observed Crooks wandering around the rally, looking through the lens of a rangefinder at the rooftops behind the stage. Trump was standing in the same spot a short time later, officials told the Associated Press. Officers stationed outside the security perimeter showed a photo of Crooks.
The attack on Trump was the deadliest assassination attempt on a president or presidential candidate since the 1981 assassination of Ronald Reagan. It is the latest in a series of security lapses by the agency that have attracted scrutiny and public scrutiny for years. Officials are investigating what motivated Crooks to carry out the attack