An independent commission investigating the July assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump found multiple irregularities in the work of the US Secret Service that resulted in the attack not being prevented, according to a report published on Thursday.
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The commission is made up of former law enforcement officials and was convened by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose portfolio includes oversight of the Secret Service.
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“The failure of anyone from the Secret Service or law enforcement to locate (the shooter) Crooks, despite the fact that he was first spotted at approximately 4:26 p.m., more than ninety minutes before he began shooting at former President Trump and the assembled crowd; failure anyone to inform former President Trump’s detailed leadership about Crooks either before the former President took the stage or, more importantly, in the last couple of minutes when Crooks took to the roof,” the report states.
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It also revealed a “destructive” culture of “doing more with less” resource management and a troubling lack of critical thinking among service members both before and after the attack on the former president, the report found.
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The commission made a recommendation to update the service’s leadership with outside professionals.
The assassination attempt on Trump occurred during his campaign speech in Pennsylvania on July 13; Trump was wounded in the ear, one of the spectators was killed, and two others were injured. The US Secret Service earlier said it had killed the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired several shots towards the stage. He was hiding on the roof of a production building about 100 meters from the stage, outside the area where the event was being held.
The head of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on July 23.
