This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on Sept. 21, 2024.
Two apparent attempts on former President Donald Trump’s life in two months have raised concerns over the Secret Service’s ability to protect the Republican candidate.Last Sunday, authorities apprehended 58-year-old Ryan Routh, who was waiting with a rifle in bushes outside a Trump-owned golf course in Florida. His rifle was spotted by a Secret Service agent patrolling the golf course a few holes ahead of Trump; the agent then opened fire.
Routh’s motives are unclear, but his extensive online history shows he was a staunch advocate of Ukraine and Taiwan. While he had voted for Trump in 2016, his views on the former president soured over time, writings online
show. He has been charged with two federal gun crimes, with further charges expected, and will appear in court for a detention hearing on Monday.
As questions swirl over the golf course incident, the Secret Service on Friday released its preliminary findings on the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Secret Service failed to give clear guidance to local law enforcement and suffered communication failures on July 13 before a man fired shots at former President Donald Trump, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe told a press conference yesterday.
Summarizing an internal review of what unfolded in Butler, Pennsylvania, Rowe said that “this was a failure on the part of the United States Secret Service” and that lessons learned from the experience will help propel the service from a reactive to a proactive posture.
The Secret Service was stationed in a room separate from the Butler County Emergency Services command post, and some local officers did not know that there were two separate communication centers, the review found.
As a result, officers “were operating under a misimpression that the Secret Service was directly receiving their radio transmissions,” the agency said in a statement summarizing the review findings.
Secret Service officials also found that agency personnel never communicated with law enforcement stationed on the rooftop of the AGR building located near the rally site, from which the shooter fired shots at Trump. According to the review, there was also never a conversation about stationing Secret Service personnel on that roof.
Rowe also said the investigation found some members of the Secret Service team displayed “complacency” and would be punished for it.
“This agency has among the most robust table of penalties in the entirety of the federal government,” he said, although he refused to name or specify which penalties.
Rowe did not consider the handling of the second attempt a failure, and he praised the “swift decisions … correct decisions” made by the agent who spotted Routh.
“I say that situation was managed according to our training,” he said.
Rowe said he was hesitant to talk about future security changes to avoid “telegraphing to people who probably would do harm to our protectees.”
“But what I will tell you is that our model, our protective model, consists of multiple layers and redundancies,” he continued.
When asked if allowing Trump to play golf in a public area was too risky, Rowe said that ultimately, it was up to the Secret Service to secure a given location so protectees could “live their lives with some type of normalcy.”
Still, he admitted the difficulty of the Secret Service’s position.
“We’re in the risk mitigation business, not in the risk elimination business,” he said. “The threat is not going to evaporate anytime soon. And so we have to be prepared for this.”
Rowe said the Secret Service operating procedures needs to undergo “a shift in paradigm” from a reactive model to one focused on readiness.
Many in Congress are determined to assist Rowe in his revamp; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is on board. “If the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared in providing it for them, possibly in the upcoming funding agreement,” Schumer said on Monday.
President Joe Biden echoed this sentiment, saying the agency “needs more help” and encouraging Congress to provide it.
Other lawmakers suggest extra funding may not be necessary, just more efficient use. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-N.Y) suggested allowing the Secret Service “to spend at a faster rate between now and the election.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) suggested that reorganization is key.
“I think it’s a matter of manpower allocation. We don’t want to just throw more money at a broken system,” he said.
Rowe said the agency has undergone a “robust” expansion and plans to hire more than 400 special agents this year. He also said the changes and ramped-up security protocols are eating into the agency’s funding.
“We are burning through a lot of assets and resources, and that’s the argument that we’ve been trying to show; this isn’t some pie in the sky…we are not capitalizing on a crisis.”
Yesterday, the House passed the Enhanced Presidential Security Act, which gives candidates the same protection as sitting presidents. Rowe said that has been protocol since July 13, but the rare 405-0 vote highlights the bipartisan concern. Zachary Stieber contributed.
