Six Secret Service agents suspended over Trump assassination failings
The US Secret Service said it was prohibited from releasing the names of those facing disciplinary action in a Thursday statement marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024.
It said the six individuals face punishments ranging from '10- to 42-day suspensions without pay', while all will also be 'placed on restricted duty or into non-operational positions'.
The statement did not specify the grounds for their suspensions, but said the incident – in which a lone gunman opened fire at a rally in the town of Butler – represents an 'operational failure'.
The attacker accessed a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to the former president as he spoke on stage. A bystander was killed, while Trump's ear was reportedly wounded in the attack. Agents shot and killed the gunman at the scene.
In an interview with Fox News set to air on Saturday, Trump said the Secret Service should have stationed an agent on the rooftop. 'There were mistakes made. And that shouldn't have happened,' he said.
The agency said it will carry the event as a 'reminder of the critical importance of its zero-fail mission and the need for continuous improvement'.
'Breakdowns in communication, technological issues, and human failure, among other contributing factors, led to the events of July 13,' it said.
The Secret Service said it has implemented 21 of 46 recommendations made by congressional oversight bodies in the wake of the assassination attempt.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who was in charge of Trump's security detail at the rally, said the agency 'has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future'.
Detailed in the Secret Service statement were new protective measures for golf courses.
Soon after the Butler assassination attempt, a man with a gun hid near Trump's West Palm Beach golf course in Florida with the intent to kill the then-Republican presidential candidate.
Prosecutors said Ryan Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as he played golf on September 15, 2024. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before he was able to open fire on Trump.
On Thursday, Routh told Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida he wants to get rid of his court-appointed federal public defenders and represent himself at trial. Routh did not state his reasons for doing so.
Cannon did not immediately rule on Routh's request and said she will issue a written order with her decision. Routh's trial is scheduled to begin on September 9.
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