Watchdog blames US Secret Service for missing key radio calls during Trump firing in 2024
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The US Secret Service missed more than 100 local radio broadcasts about a gunman who tried to kill President Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pa., according to a government watchdog report released Thursday.
The agency was not aware of the 102 dispatch on July 13, 2024, because it failed to establish a joint communications room with local law enforcement, according to a report by the inspector general of the US Department of Homeland Security. Local authorities were receiving reports of a search for a suspicious person later identified as Thomas Crooks.
Instead, we found that the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks,” the report said.
“As a result, members of the Secret Service did not inform President Trump’s security detail of concerns about a suspicious person.”
Crooks, who was shot and killed by law enforcement officers at the rally, opened fire while Trump was speaking on stage. A bystander was killed and several others were injured, including Trump, when a bullet grazed his ear.
The Crooks had managed to gain access to the roof closest to Trump’s direct line of sight.
In a statement, the Secret Service said they agree with the inspector general’s recommendations.
“Many of these recommendations have already been identified … and have been implemented as part of our ongoing reform efforts,” the spokesperson said.
How did a gunman get so close to killing former US president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.? Andrew Chang breaks down a new report published by a bipartisan US Senate committee that found the Secret Service’s lack of organization and technical planning failed to keep Trump safe.
The report found that the Crooks had flown an illegal plane into the area several hours before the shooting. The plane was not detected because the Secret Service’s counter-drone system was not working, it said.
The counter-drone system was operated by one “poorly trained” operator who had not tested it before the event, according to the inspector general.
It took hours of work to fix the problem, the report said. Meanwhile, the Crooks conducted a drone flight that lasted about nine minutes without being detected.
Thursday’s report was the latest in a series of investigations by federal watchdogs and congressional committees that have identified major flaws in the Secret Service’s security arrangements for the event.
Congressional Republicans accused Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle of impropriety and urged her to resign during a House Oversight Committee hearing on the dramatic security collapse before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
