Secret Service Takes Accountability for Butler Shooting ‘Failure’

Secret Service acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. acknowledged multiple security lapses, including local enforcement coordination and agency communication, during a Friday news conference addressing the agency’s “failure” in handling the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“There was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols,” Rowe said early on, adding that “these employees will be held accountable.”
Rowe added: “Ultimately it is the Secret Service’s responsibility to secure a site.” He later added, “The Secret Service has the main responsibility of building the site plan. We cannot abdicate or defer our responsibilities to others.”
For campaign and political events, the Secret Service often coordinates with local and state enforcement agencies to secure the venues. On this end, Rowe said, “The Secret Service did not give clear guidance or direction to our local law enforcement partners (in Butler, Pennsylvania),” later acknowledging that the Secret Service did not “co-locate its security room with law enforcement.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House press team and Trump campaign for comment via email on Friday.
During the Trump campaign rally on July 13 in Butler, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at Trump from a rooftop about 150 yards away. Trump’s right ear was grazed, spectator Corey Comperatore was killed and two others were injured. Trump’s ear was seen bleeding while being escorted off the campaign stage by Secret Service agents.
Following the shooting, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was questioned in a four-hour bipartisan hearing. Many criticized Cheatle for evasive responses and failing to answer key questions. Shortly after, on July 23, she resigned from the top post, with Rowe assuming the role of acting director.
During the news conference, Rowe acknowledged there was an “overreliance” on mobile devices among the agency, which resulted in siloed communications with information not being relayed over different networks. He also said, “communications were problematic” that day, in response to a reporter’s question.
Rowe noted that some deficiencies—like concerns over line of sight—were not “escalated” up the line of command properly. “While July 13 is a failure, we’re not proud of it, but we certainly have been rising to this moment,” adding that he is “proud of our agency.”
He reaffirmed reporters that “We are not going to drop standards,” in terms of developing security agents.
Rowe called for a “paradigm shift that will redefine how we conduct protective operations,” which requires additional resources, tools, technology and personnel. The shift will drive the agency from a “state of reaction to a state of readiness,” making the agency more “agile,” he said.
The news conference arrived a few hours after the House unanimously passed a bill to require the Secret Service to provide equal standards of protection to presidential candidates and sitting presidents. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, comes just five days after a suspected second assassination attempt on Trump.
The former president has received the same level of protection as President Joe Biden since the July 13 assassination attempt. The “high level of protection is working,” Rowe said. According to authorities, a Secret Service agent spotted a suspect with a rifle at Trump’s golf course where the GOP presidential nominee was golfing last weekend.
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