Prior to the death attempt against the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, the native SWAT team at the former president’s rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, did not had a safety briefing or connection with the Secret Service.
The Beaver County SWAT team made a first-ever public statement regarding the former president’s death test in a new appointment with , ABC News. Despite being informed that they would get a “face-to-face presentation” when the Secret Service guns arrived at the Butler function, SWAT Team Officer Jason Woods explained that his District team previously received a lecture from the Secret Service.
” We were supposed to get a face-to-face presentation with the Secret Service sharpshooters whenever they arrived, and that never happened”, Woods told ABC News.  ,” So I think that that was definitely a key point, where I started thinking points were bad because that never happened, and we had no connection with the Secret Service” . ,
When asked whether the local District crew had any contact with the Secret Service on July 13, Woods responded,” Not until after the shooting.” After the tragic shooting that seriously injured the previous president, a retired fire chief, and two Trump rally guests, he continued, saying it was” to later” for communication between the Secret Service and the District group.
Woods had anticipated a higher level of collaboration and communication between the Secret Service and the local SWAT team, according to ABC News.
The assistant leader for the Beaver County SWAT team, Mike Priolo, spoke about the tragedy that occurred at the Pennsylvania rally, saying,” This one is something we’ll always carry with us.”
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The local SWAT team’s testimony regarding Trump’s assassination attempt sparked further criticism of the Secret Service. One social media user tweeted,” So secret service cannot do simple protocol briefings, cool”. Meanwhile, another social media user warned of potential retaliation against the SWAT team, writing,” Better keep tabs on these guys or they’re gonna end up getting disappeared”.
According to Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, who did not directly address the SWAT team’s new allegations, Guglielmi stated that the Secret Service was” committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump ensure that never happens again.” That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI, and other relevant investigations”.
