‘Apocalyptic failure’: Secret Service head facing calls to resign following Trump assassination attempt
The head of the Secret Service is facing calls to resign, as supporters of Donald Trump take aim at “DEI and women” in the agency.
The head of the US Secret Service is facing calls to resign following the failed assassination attempt of Donald Trump, as supporters of the former President target “DEI” — diversity, equity and inclusion — and women over the stunning security lapse.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, has been identified as the gunman who attempted to assassinate Trump as he spoke on stage at an outdoor rally in Bethel Park in Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
One bullet struck Trump’s ear and one member of the crowd, former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed.
Two other rally attendees, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were injured in the gunfire but are both in stable condition.
The Secret Service is now facing serious questions about how Crooks, who was shot and killed by counter-snipers within seconds of opening fire, was able to get into position on a rooftop just outside the grounds less than 130 metres away.
“The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign,” tech billionaire Elon Musk said on X.
Mr Musk was responding to BBC interview with a witness who said he and others saw the shooter crawling on the roof with a rifle and attempted to alert police several times.
“How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee?” asked Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec.
Mr Musk replied, “Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate. Either way, the SS leadership must resign.”
Hours after the rally, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress would conduct a “full investigation of the tragic events of today”.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Mr Johnson wrote on X. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP.”
James Comer, Republican Chair of the House Oversight Committee, issued a letter on Saturday formally inviting Ms Cheatle to testify at a hearing on Monday, July 22.
“There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Mr Comer said in a statement.
Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and key Trump adviser, raised concerns about a potential assassination in a June interview, just before beginning a four-month prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.
“It’s my number one fear,” Bannon told The Guardian.
“Assassination has to be at the top of the list and I believe that the woman that’s running the Secret Service part is not doing her job.”
In a statement from jail after the shooting, Bannon told The National Pulse, “I’ve warned about this very thing for over a year — an assassination attempt — the threat is real, very real. Thankfully, President Trump wears the Armour of God.”
Ms Cheatle, 53, was appointed by President Joe Biden to helm the agency, which sits under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is best known for protecting presidents, in September 2022.
She is the agency’s second female director.
A former 27-year veteran of the Secret Service, she returned to agency after serving a brief stint at PepsiCo, where she was responsible for security at the food and beverage giant’s North American facilities.
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Eastern Illinois University in 1992, she first joined the Secret Service in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become the first woman to serve as assistant director of the main Protective Operations division, responsible for protecting presidents and dignitaries.
“That achievement in a male-dominated industry was not lost on me,” she said in a 2022 interview with Security magazine.
“I kept a photo on my desk of the first five women sworn into the service, and I used that to remind me that these women created opportunities for me and I can help others grow and lead as well.”
Extreme incompetence or it was deliberate. Either way, the SS leadership must resign. https://t.co/0vYGrj6yuH
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2024
Ms Cheatle served on President Joe Biden’s security detail while he was Vice President under Barack Obama, and in 2021 she was awarded a Presidential Rank Award by Mr Biden for her exceptional performance.
“Jill and I know first-hand Kim’s commitment to her job and to the Secret Service’s people and mission,” Mr Biden said in a statement when she was appointed to the top job in 2022.
“When Kim served on my security detail when I was Vice President, we came to trust her judgement and counsel. She is a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills, and was easily the best choice to lead the agency at a critical moment for the Secret Service. She has my complete trust, and I look forward to working with her.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, prominent right-wing figures have latched onto the presence of female Secret Service agents and suggested the agency’s promotion of DEI put Trump at risk.
Footage from the scene of a female agent appearing to struggle putting her gun into her holster while another fiddles with her sunglasses has been widely shared online.
“Watching the ladies at work here,” wrote journalist Sharyl Attkisson.
Right-wing influencer Benny Johnson claimed it was “absolute humiliation for this gaggle of female Secret Service agents”.
“Look at the disorder,” he wrote. “Can’t holster weapons, gear falling to the ground, erratic, fearful movements, no show of force, composure. DEI Secret Service make presidents less safe.”
TV host Akshita Nandagopal commented that the agents looked “confused, panicked and absolutely not in control”.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker was also critical of some of the protection detail around Trump after he was shot.
“What I was seeing was DEI,” Mr Swecker told the NY Post.
“And I am not anti-woman. I have three daughters and three granddaughters, and they’d make great Secret Service agents. But the women I saw up there with the President — they looked like they were running in circles. One didn’t know how to holster, the other one didn’t seem to know what to do, and another one seemed not to be able to find her holster. DEI is one thing. Competence and effectiveness is another, and I saw DEI out there.”
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, former Secret Service agent and podcaster Dan Bongino was asked by host Rachel Campos-Duffy whether Ms Cheatle was “incompetent”. “What is happening? Is it DEI?” she asked.
Bongino said he didn’t know if that was the case and defended the “good men and women” in the agency, but suggested it did not have the right priorities. He pointed to earlier reports that the Secret Service was concerned about its agents wearing red ties, out of concerns it could be perceived as support for Trump.
“They were more concerned about the colour of the Secret Service agents’ ties around Donald Trump,” he said.
“This is what the Secret Service was concerned about. They put out 1000 tweets about all of this DEI stuff. Do I know that’s related here? I don’t. I’m just saying, you have one job, and only one job. Your job is keep the body alive no matter what. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, the President of Djibouti, it doesn’t matter. That is your job. They absolutely, resolutely, 100 per cent failed.”
Bongino, who served on President Obama’s security detail, said “not a single excuse should be made”.
“This should be the subject of Congressional hearings and investigations, because if they can’t do this, and this is the best technology you had, then folks, there’s no purpose anymore,” he said. “This isn’t the agency I grew up in. I know some of those guys personally. These are good men and women, but this was an apocalyptic security failure.”
Others suggested the female agents were too short to properly shield the six-foot-three Trump. John Cardillo, a former New York police officer turned pro-Trump influencer, shared footage from the 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan.
“Look at the difference in the physical size of Reagan’s agents, their situational awareness, their reaction speed to gunfire, the way they muscle him into the vehicle, and how quickly his vehicle takes off,” he wrote. “Forty-plus years of additional training and Reagan’s detail did a far better job.”
Cardillo was also highly critical of Secret Service agents for allowing Trump, blood on his face, to stand back up and pump his fist to the crowd after being shot.
“He was left exposed by his security,” he told Mediaite.
Look at the difference in the physical size of Reagan’s agents, their situational awareness, their reaction speed to gunfire, the way they muscle him into the vehicle, and how quickly his vehicle takes off.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) July 14, 2024
40+ yrs of additional training and Reagan’s detail did a far better job. pic.twitter.com/1oqaF50jZx
“He should have been off the stage by then. No one in law enforcement thinks this was handled well. While it will be an iconic photo in history it should not have happened … It’s mind-blowing how poorly it was handled. Basic protocol even if you had to pick him up and throw him into the car.”
However some on social media said there was no reason women could not be Secret Service agents. “There is no reason we cannot find tall fit women,” one wrote. “Trump is six-foot-three. Finding anyone at or over six-foot-three is difficult but not impossible.”
Another said, “Not a knock on women in general, but part of the job is to shield the person they’re protecting. They need taller women for taller protectees.”
In a resurfaced interview with CBS last year, Ms Cheatle talked about her efforts to diversify the agency and her goal of having 30 per cent female recruits by 2030.
Women currently comprise 24 per cent of the Secret Service workforce, according to its website. In 2021, the agency celebrated the 50th anniversary of the appointment of the first female Secret Service agents.
“I’m very conscious as I sit in this chair now, of making sure that we need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce, and particularly women,” Ms Cheatle told CBS.
Part of the effort included inviting YouTube influencer Michelle Khare to train with agents. Khare’s video, “I Tried Secret Service Academy”, has been viewed 12 million times.
In 2017, a Secret Service agent was removed from her position over a Facebook post in which she suggested she wouldn’t take a bullet for Trump if he were President.
The post, written by special agent Kerry O’Grady in October 2016 prior to Trump’s election, said “despite the fact that I am expected to take a bullet for both sides”, the “world has changed” and “I would take jail time over a bullet or an endorsement for what I believe to be disaster to this country”.
“I am with Her,” she concluded, in reference to the campaign slogan of Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
The FBI is investigating Saturday’s shooting as a possible domestic terrorism incident, officials confirmed.
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said Crooks had no known mental illness history and his family was co-operating with authorities.
“We’re looking into his background, his day-to-day activities, any writings and social media posts that might help us identify what led to this shooting. And we have not seen anything threatening,” Mr Rojek said.
President Biden said the shooter’s motive was not known.
“I urge everyone, please don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations,” said Mr Biden, who has ordered an independent review on national security following the shooting.
The Secret Service has also pushed back on reports that Trump’s team had been denied requests for additional security.
“There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on Sunday. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources and technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
Despite the attempt on his life, Trump has confirmed he will head to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Sunday.
“I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and the Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter’, or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site on Sunday. “Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled.”
Trump will be formally nominated for president during the week-long convention, which starts on Monday.
Speaking to ABC last week, Ms Cheatle said she was “absolutely confident” in the agency’s preparations for both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
She said the Secret Service had been working with local police in both cities for the past year-and-a-half to mitigate foreign and homegrown threats.
More Coverage
“I think we have to make sure that we are assessing the risk for both of those, as well as any other type of threat that may come at us, whether it’s a lone gunman, you know, an organised attack or an organised group,” she said.
— with Brielle Burns
Missiles fired, Putin updates nuclear doctrine
The chances of Putin using nuclear weapons against Ukraine has just increased after a shock move that marks a dramatic escalation in tensions.
‘Saw him having sex’: Stunning claim
Controversy continues to swirl around Donald Trump’s pick for one of America’s most important jobs – and it’s only getting worse.
Trump confirms major change with one word
Donald Trump has confirmed his plans to use “military assets” to carry out his mass deportation plan in a post on social media.