A breakdown in communications with local law enforcement and Secret Service activities during a pre-election rally last month, according to a document released Friday, shows a series of missed opportunities to arrest a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured rooftop in July, in which former President Trump was shot and wounded, impeded.
The five-page document, which summarizes the key findings of the yet-to-be-finalized report, reveals a series of widespread failures that led to the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Illinois, in which Trump was wounded in the ear.
These include the Secret Service’s lack of clear guidance to local authorities, a failure to patch line-of-sight vulnerabilities at meeting locations that left Trump exposed to sniper fire and “collusion” among some agents, said Ronald Rowe Jr., the agency’s acting director.
While the botched response has been well documented through congressional testimony, media investigations and other public statements, the brief document released Friday marks a formal effort by the Secret Service to catalog the day’s mistakes and comes amid a fresh review by the agency following Sunday’s arrest of a gunman who authorities say chased Trump around a Florida golf course.
“This was a failure by the United States Secret Service. It is important that we take responsibility for the failures of July 13 and use the lessons learned to ensure we do not experience this type of failure again,” Rowe said at a news conference. The conference was published with a briefing.
The report details a series of “communication failures” before 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper after firing at Trump from a rooftop less than 500 feet away. The candidate spoke out. Rowe said the building was identified as a potential danger before the incident, but officials failed to take adequate steps to correct the potential problem.
“Issues within the scope were recognised but not adequately addressed. Line of sight issues were raised on the day of the visit but were not raised with inspectors,” Rowe said. “While some members of the frontline team were overzealous, there was complacency on the part of others, leading to breaches of safety protocols.”
Among other problems: Some local police on the scene were unaware of the existence of two communications centers on the grounds, meaning agents would not know that Secret Service members were not receiving their radio transmissions.
Law enforcement also relied on cellphones instead of Secret Service radio frequencies to transmit vital information. As officers searched for Crooks before the shooting, details were transmitted “in a garbled or fragmented manner via cellular/mobile devices” rather than through the Secret Service network.
“The failure of personnel to radio a description of the assailant or critical information received from local authorities about a suspicious individual on the roof of the AGR complex prevented all federal personnel at the Butler site from receiving collective top-secret intelligence on duty,” the report said. The acronym refers to AGR International Inc., a manufacturing plant just north of Butler Farm Square, where the demonstration took place.
The breach was particularly troubling for Trump’s security team, which “did not know how focused state and local law enforcement agencies were on finding a suspect in the minutes leading up to the attack.” Had they known, the report said, they might have made the decision to move Trump while the search for the gunman was underway.
The report raises more serious questions about why there were no law enforcement officers stationed on the roof where the thugs were being used.
The local tactical team was on the second floor of the complex from which Crooks fired. The report said several law enforcement agencies questioned the effectiveness of the team’s position, “although there were no further discussions about changing it.” And there was no discussion with the Secret Service about putting the team on the roof, even though local snipers “apparently did not object to the location.”
The tactical team operating on the second floor of the building had no contact with the Secret Service prior to the demonstration. The team was brought in by a local police department to assist with the incident, without the Secret Service’s knowledge, the report said.
Initially, the Secret Service understood that the rally site — chosen by Trump’s staff because it would best accommodate “the largest number of desired participants” — was a security concern because of the sight lines that could be used by a potential attacker. And yet, according to the report, no security measures were in place on July 13 to address those concerns, and the Secret Service did not have detailed information about whether local law enforcement support would be there.
The report’s executive summary did not identify specific people who might be responsible or indicate which employees were disciplined, though the Associated Press previously reported that at least five Secret Service agents had been reassigned. Then-director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after more than a week of filming, saying she took full responsibility for the failure.
The Secret Service investigation is one of many, including congressional and oversight investigations by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
Rowe said the July shooting and Sunday’s episode, in which Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested after Secret Service agents found a rifle in the bushes at a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was playing, did reveal that a paradigm shift is needed in the way the agency protects public officials.
Trump, Rowe said, receives the “highest level” of protection, and the Secret Service response in Florida was an example of proper procedures.
Santana, Tucker and Reacher write for The Associated Press.
