Head of US Secret Service resigns following Trump rally shooting

Washington: The head of the US Secret Service has resigned amid bipartisan outrage over the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump.

Ten days after the Republican candidate almost lost his life, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has stood down over her agency’s failure to stop a 20-year-old gunman from opening fire at the former president during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.Credit: AP

US President Joe Biden paid tribute to Cheatle, whose 30-year career with the agency included a stint protecting Biden’s family when he was vice president during former president Barack Obama’s administration.

“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” he said in a statement as he prepared to return to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, two days after dropping out of the election.

“We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new director soon.”

The resignation came after a scathing congressional hearing on Monday (Tuesday AEST) in which Cheatle was excoriated by both sides of politics as she failed to share new light about the assassination attempt.

She acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting took place and that the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally.

However, she repeatedly refused to answer many other questions about what happened and, by the end of the hearing, Democrats and Republicans were united in calling for her to step down.

“Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive and thank God he is, you look incompetent. If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable,” said a furious Mike Turner, who is also the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

“Not only should you resign, if you refuse to do so, President Biden needs to fire you, because his life, Donald Trump’s life, and all the other people which you protect are at risk, because you have no concept of the aspect that the security footprint needs to be correlated to the threat.”

A defiant Trump waves a fist to the crowd after his right ear was nicked by one of the sniper’s bullets.Credit: AP

While Cheatle had insisted yesterday that she remained the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, she sent an email to staff on Tuesday morning telling them, “I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.

“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

The agency’s deputy director Ronald Rowe has been appointed acting director until a permanent replacement is appointed.

The attempted assassination on Trump shocked the world and reignited concerns around political violence in America.

Several inquiries are now under way into how Crooks was able to fire at least six rounds from a roof, about 120 metres from where Trump was addressing the crowd.

Trump turned his head at the last minute, and was only grazed by the bullet before being whisked away to safety. However, one spectator was killed and two others were critically injured.

The former president and his family have repeatedly praised the Secret Service for saving his life, and Trump initially called for unity following the shooting.

But in a post on Tuesday, he wrote: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOUR TO DO SO!”

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