OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:24 PM – Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has spoken out for the first time since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Cheatle spoke in an interview with ABC News calling the incident “unacceptable” and she has taken full responsibility for the attack, making it clear the incident should’ve “never happened.”
“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 added.
She continued by appearing to shift some of the blame on local authorities saying that agents moved quickly to stop the shooter after rally goers spotted him atop a building just outside the security perimeter, but that police officers were inside that structure while the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was on the roof.
Cheatle said that the Secret Service had been assigned with securing the inner perimeter of the event, while police were assigned to safeguard the area that included the building.
When the president, a former president, and other high-ranking officials are invited to an event, the Secret Service is in charge of organizing the overall security strategy. It is also primarily in charge of dealing with the threat of a long-range shooter and obstructing lines of sight, which includes giving local police orders to guard or secure any buildings that might present an opening to an assailant.
“There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building,” she told ABC News.
The Pennsylvania State Police, which stated in a statement that it “provided all resources” the Secret Service requested, was contacted by Butler Township police about their inquiries. The FBI was contacted by the state police with inquiries regarding the investigation.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the Secret Service had modified its security protocols for Trump, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other individuals following the violence in western Pennsylvania over the weekend.
Additionally, security details would be given to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Trump’s recently announced Vice President selection, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
Mayorkas added that officials will put together a team on Saturday to carry out an impartial assessment of the alleged errors.
“We need to move with swiftness and urgency, because this is a security imperative,” he told reporters, adding that the work should commence within “days.”
Lawmakers are starting their own investigations. Republicans led by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to Cheatle on Thursday requesting any recording of the events that took place, instructions from the agency’s top brass regarding the shooting, and a list of the agents and officers assigned to guard the rally.
The letter asks for Cheatle to furnish additional materials by July 29th that include security assessments, reports and plans related to the agency’s preparation for the event.
“Americans deserve answers,” Comer wrote on social media, saying he expects Cheatle to testify before the committee July 22nd.
Tuesday’s assassination attempt briefing will be given to the House Oversight Committee, a person familiar with the arrangements said.
“Externally of the government, so that no question of its independence can be raised,” Mayorkas stated, referring to the person heading the independent review who would not be affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security.
He said their results will be released to the public.
“It’s very important,” he added, “that this independent review have the confidence of the people.”
Mayorkas said it would examine the actions of Secret Service and other law enforcement personnel “before, during and after the shooting.”
“An incident like this cannot happen,” Mayorkas told CNN earlier in the day. “We are speaking of a failure.”
Cheatle has said the agency would cooperate fully with an independent review and “work with the appropriate congressional committees on any oversight action.”
Biden appointed Cheatle as director in 2022 and noted that she had served on his security detail when he was vice president.
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