PITTSBURGH — Since the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, reports and public revelations have repeatedly highlighted the communication failures and negligence that nearly sparked a national crisis — and cost the life of a Butler County, Pennsylvania, firefighter. After weeks of shifting blame to local authorities, the Secret Service has finally rightly taken full responsibility for the incident.
The resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was a necessary consequence of the agency’s appalling incompetence – but it is not enough. To regain the public’s trust, the agency must implement serious reforms and make its self-assessment transparent.
The security breach was ultimately the result of poor communication between the Secret Service and officials from Butler and Beaver counties and the Pennsylvania State Police in the days, hours, minutes and seconds leading up to the shooting. At any of these times, Secret Service intervention could have thwarted the shooter – but the agency failed.
Days: During the preparations for the Butler rally, local law enforcement pointed out that the very building Crooks was using as a (very obvious) sniper’s nest was a security risk, but the Secret Service did not report it.
Hours: On the day of the rally, state and local law enforcement identified the shooter as a suspect. However, the Secret Service did not take notice of him.
Protocol: Before Trump took the stage, both civilians and police officers raised the alarm that there was a suspicious person on the roof. Nevertheless, the Secret Service allowed Trump to speak.
Seconds: Less than a minute before the shooting, a local police officer made eye contact with the gunman and desperately tried to alert federal authorities. But the Secret Service did nothing until shots were fired.
The only reason this outrageous incompetence didn’t result in a national and international catastrophe is sheer luck – a last-minute nod from the presidential candidate. Corey Comperatore and the two other rally attendees who were seriously injured were not so lucky.
It is also possible that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, would still be alive today if a more competent and proactive response had been made.
Although acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. has been more open and accountable than his predecessor, the public is still entitled to a thorough and accurate accounting of the agency’s failures that day and before. The American people are also entitled to public assurance that such a mistake will not be repeated. That means a transparent accounting of the reforms that Rowe and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, are committed to implementing. No excuses. No hesitation. No holding back.
The US political system has had to cope with an enormous number of shocks in recent months and years, both resulting from and contributing to the most extreme political polarization in over a century. So far, the system has proven remarkably resilient.
But a crisis of competence in the intelligence agency that is supposed to be the definition of competence, and that is tasked with protecting the world’s most important heads of state, could push us over the edge. It almost happened. And the problem must be addressed immediately.
— The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board
