The U.S. Secret Service has suspended six personnel following a review of security failures at a rally for former President Donald Trump last year, where a gunman attempted an assassination, an official has confirmed.
The rally, held in Butler, Pennsylvania, saw Matthew Crooks open fire, killing one attendee. A Secret Service report released Thursday, days before the one-year anniversary of the incident, deemed the event an “operational failure.”
One of Crooks’s bullets grazed then-President Trump, who was subsequently moved to safety. The assailant was fatally shot.
The timing of the suspensions remains unclear, with U.S. media outlets offering conflicting reports on whether the penalties have been served.
According to the agency, the suspensions range from 10 to 42 days of leave without pay or benefits.
“The Secret Service is fully accountable for Butler,” Matt Quinn, the agency’s deputy director, told CBS News, a U.S. partner of the BBC. “Butler was an operational failure, and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again.”
Quinn, appointed to his current role in May, stated he is “laser-focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,” but emphasized that the agency would not resolve the issues through dismissals.
He informed CBS that several improvements have already been implemented, including the use of military-grade drones and enhanced mobile command posts for field agents.
The identities of the suspended personnel and their specific roles during the attack have not been disclosed.
Among the reforms cited by the Secret Service are “clear lines” of accountability, improved information sharing with local law enforcement, and the establishment of an Aviation and Airspace Security division “dedicated to maintaining the agency’s critical aerial monitoring capabilities.”
In excerpts from a Fox News interview set to air Saturday, Trump acknowledged that the U.S. Secret Service “had a bad day” in Butler but expressed satisfaction with the investigation into the shooting.
“There were mistakes made. And that shouldn’t have happened,” Trump stated in the interview.
This news arrives just days before the anniversary of the July 13, 2024, attack, which resulted in the death of rally attendee Corey Comperatore and injuries to two others.
The incident prompted the resignation of then-Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny and criticism from the U.S. Congress over the past year.
Last September, a 94-page Senate report concluded that security failures and a lack of communication within the Secret Service “directly contributed” to the incident, noting that many issues remained unaddressed two months later.
A House of Representatives taskforce report published in December also described the attack as preventable, identifying the primary lapse as the failure to secure the rooftop from which Crooks initiated the shooting.
Trump, who secured re-election in November, received heightened security following the attack, ensuring protection exceeding the standard level for a presidential candidate.
In September, he was again escorted to safety by Secret Service agents after a second individual lurked in bushes at Trump’s golf course in Florida. The FBI characterized this incident as another apparent assassination attempt.
The suspect in the Florida incident was apprehended.
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