Former President Donald J. Trump survived an assassination attempt, but there are questions about what might have been the most consequential Secret Service failure in history.
On Saturday, the Republican nominee was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when shots rang out, rang out in Trump's ear and struck and killed a rally attendee as a sniper opened fire from a rooftop position of a manufacturing plant. 130 meters from the stage.
It was an inexplicable failure for an agency now in the crosshairs of an incident that came within a hair's breadth of being the first successful assassination of a presidential candidate since Democrat Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
TRUMP JUST GROUNDED ON LIVE TV
Please stop what you are doing and pray pic.twitter.com/jlYtCeRe3O
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 13, 2024
“The Secret Service failed. The shooter was tall, it took too long to take him out, and he was exposed if there was a second shooter. That was an inch away from killing him.” a former source of federal law enforcement he said Fox News.
“The source also notes that when Trump was placed in the car, they used the door that faced the crowd, exposing him longer: 'This was not a well-rehearsed plan,'” according to the chief White House correspondent from Fox News, Jacqui Heinrich.
130 m from the roof to the stage
Fortunately, Trump is a lively speaker
and his head was moving
But
It was a massive failure on the part of the Secret Service to have exposed this site pic.twitter.com/XYxeqi39h8— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) July 14, 2024
The massive failure to provide security for Trump is being laid at the door of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle, a former PepsiCo security chief who was somehow tapped for the important job of running the 'agency responsible for the protection of the President of the United States. states
Among those calling for Cheatle's resignation after the near-catastrophic safety failure was billionaire SpaceX/Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Mush, who shared a video of an eyewitness telling a BBC reporter who had seen the gunman and repeatedly tried to warn the Secret Service, but was ignored.
The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign https://t.co/ihlEC5NP1w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2024
“The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign,” Musk wrote Saturday after the failed assassination attempt.
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino, who is a former Secret Service agent, also called for Cheatle's resignation.
Bongino also noted that Cheatle has denied the Trump team's request for additional Secret Service protection, a necessity because of the climate of hate that has been fostered by President Joe Biden, his fellow Democrats and the media
I want to repeat, and I can absolutely confirm, USSS Director Kim Cheatle has repeatedly rejected requests for a larger security footprint around President Trump. Despite knowing that the threat level is catastrophic.
Resign tonight. https://t.co/v3UQyTt1dK— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) July 14, 2024
“Actively communicating with several former Secret Service colleagues about the assassination attempt. This is an obviously catastrophic failure and NO excuses should be made, or even attempted,” Bongino added in another post. “The failures are profound and questions must be answered about ground surveillance, air surveillance, post support and forward work and anti-sniper response. We have ONE job and today we came within inches of a fatal failure. A failure without incident is NOT a success.”
Actively communicating with several former Secret Service colleagues about the assassination attempt.
This is an obviously catastrophic failure and should NOT be excused, or even attempted.
The failures are profound and questions need to be answered on the ground…— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) July 14, 2024
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp took it a step further, calling for a public inquiry.
CPAC calls for an immediate public investigation into President Trump's security. If RFK can be denied protection, Trump will likely be denied everything he needs. There is no way a nearby roof would be exposed. Sounds like a career success. The White House must address…
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) July 13, 2024
At the very least, Cheatle will be asked some serious questions by Republicans in Congress.
I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling the Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, to appear at a hearing. The Supervisory Committee will send a formal invitation soon.
My prayers are with President Trump and the victims of the…
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) July 14, 2024
Others wonder if it's just incompetence or something far more sinister.
A roof with a direct line of sight to the stage was not secured by the Secret Service. Our options here are incredible extreme negligence or something far worse. https://t.co/4WcIuLcr3H
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 13, 2024
As far as I'm concerned, we should assume that the FBI and the Secret Service, if not the Biden administrator, were complicit in last night's assassination attempt. According to reports, several attendees at the Trump rally told Secret Service agents about a suspicious man who ended up trying to assassinate Trump… pic.twitter.com/WSRFMauahR
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 14, 2024
You're telling me the Secret Service let a guy climb onto a roof with a rifle only 150 yards from Trump? Internal work pic.twitter.com/h7awJPt3GL
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) July 14, 2024
Fortunately for Trump, he wasn't the victim of the Secret Service dropping the ball, at least not this time.
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