U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle says she plans to stay on in her role in the wake of the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania campaign rally on July 13.
It’s still unclear how 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to carry an AR-15 rifle to a rooftop at the Butler Farm Show Grounds and fire multiple rounds at the former president.
In a July 16 interview with the ABC, Ms. Cheatle said that while she agreed that an individual managing to fire multiple shots at a former president under the protection of the Secret Service was “unacceptable,” she is “absolutely” going to stay on, with no plans to resign.
The incident left one person in the crowd dead, two wounded, and former president Trump—the now-confirmed GOP nominee for president—with a bullet wound in his right ear. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was also killed.
According to Ms. Cheatle, as the person in charge of the Secret Service, she will investigate this incident to ensure there is no repeat.
“The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary,” she said.
“It was unacceptable and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Shooter Seen Before Assassination Attempt
Multiple videos posted to social media show people gathered outside the rally event, listening to former President Trump speak, while they pointed to Thomas Matthew Crooks as he lay with his rifle on the rooftop. In the recordings, several people can be heard calling for the attention of law enforcement minutes before the first shots were fired.
At least one officer with Butler Township attempted to approach Thomas Matthew Crooks by climbing onto the roof where the shooter had positioned himself, but retreated when the shooter aimed the rifle at him.
Ms. Cheatle says the shooting then started.
“I don’t have all the details yet but it was a very short period of time. Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult,” she said.
Ms. Cheatle said that local authorities were tasked with securing the building where the shooter had positioned himself, as it was just outside the perimeter of areas guarded by the Secret Service. She also said that local police were present inside the building.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” she said.
“And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building, there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
Ms. Cheatle is expected to testify before a House Oversight Committee about the incident on July 22. President Joe Biden has also called for a review.
Biden, Mayorkas Stand by Secret Service Director
In a July 15 White House press briefing, the first since the assassination attempt, press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that President Biden still has confidence in Ms. Cheatle to perform her duties as head of the Secret Service.
Ms. Cheatle is “working hard to examine what happened” and to ensure all the people under the Secret Services protection have the “needed security,” the press secretary said.
At the same time, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said he has every confidence in the Secret Service to continue protecting those under its charge.
“I have 100 percent confidence in the United States Secret Service, and what you saw on stage on Saturday, with respect to individuals putting their own lives at risk for the protection of another, is exactly what the American public should see every single day,” he said.
Mr. Mayorkas also said he is committed to looking outside his department and the federal government for someone to lead an independent review of the service to ensure the process is fair and unbiased.
“The findings will indeed be made public. It is very important that we achieve transparency so that the American people have confidence in the work of the review and its findings and recommendations,” he said.
“We need to move with swiftness and urgency because this is a security imperative.”
