The tightened security at the page of former president Donald Trump’s first assassination attempt contrasts starkly with the weak U.S. Secret Service procedures that allowed him to be shot in the head on July 13.
The protest site at Butler Farm Show, Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, was surrounded by local, state, and national authorities on foot, horse, and in cars on the day of the event. The large screen of surveillance personnel did not go unnoticed by protest participants, aside from the typical metal detector and security gates one might believe at such a gathering.
” This one, surely I see the tighter security measures, no fear, more obstacles, and I think they’re more well prepared this time to protect President Trump and defend all the MAGA fan foundation as a whole”, rally participant Nima Poursohi of Burlington County, New Jersey, who was also at the July 13 march, told The Federalist. They are undoubtedly doing a great job. I regard all forms of law enforcement.
Almost every structure visible from the march page had guns or other security staff on them, including the now-infamous AGT crystal structure where Trump’s planned assassin shot his bullets, killing one and injuring three, including the former president, into the former leader. Agents were often spotted using binoculars both inside and outside the site, and the clatter of a counter-drone program persisted throughout the length of the event.
” I feel like I’ve seen a lot of surveillance”, visitor Vicki Barnum of Collier Township, Pennsylvania, told The Federalist. ” I see people on the slanted roof that they could n’t be on before. I’ve seen numerous guns. I feel healthy”.
The reference to a” sloped ceiling” excuse used by previous Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle as to why the building where the murderer shot his weapon could not be secured was a tongue-in-cheek use. After Trump was shot at a Butler protest in July, Chickenett resigned in embarrassment.
At the first Butler march, security issues were much more common than simply placing staff members on easily accessible hero perches with direct line of sight from the former president.
A bipartisan statement released last month from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee revealed numerous Secret Service errors that “directly contributed” to the shooting.
The Secret Service told the committee, according to the statement, that no one or people in particular was in charge of organizing the protection at the march, with some staff members denouncing duty or ejecting blame for mistakes.
” What happened on July 13 was an accumulation of problems that produced a great storm of beautiful failure”, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a media transfer.  ,” It was a horror and entirely avoidable from the outset. Lack of a reliable chain of command and a failure to provide assets like a functioning television, aircraft detection program, or counter surveillance team.
As The Federalist reported, the Biden-Harris administration stonewalled the committee’s inquiry, with requests from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security ( DHS), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Secret Service itself remaining outstanding. The Secret Service and DHS provided the majority of the papers as “heavily redacted.”
The council was able to discover that the Secret Service even failed to integrate with state and local law enforcement regarding how to handle the AGR tower, and that it, astonishingly, did not take into account state and local law enforcement’s operational plans.
The report states that” USSS did not ensure it could share information with local law enforcement partners in real time” because communications at the July 13 rally were siloed.
Prior to shots being fired, the Secret Service was also informed that a suspect with a range finder was close to the AGR building.
” Our initial findings clearly show a series of multiple failures of the U. S. Secret Service ( USSS) and an inexcusable dereliction of duty”, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said. ” USSS failed to ensure the AGR roof was adequately covered, they also had a rangefinder with them for at least 27 minutes, did not delay proceedings, remove former president Trump from the stage, even after being informed that the suspect was on the AGR building’s roof,” said the statement.
At the July rally, the shooter was able to fly a drone in the area before the counter-drone system was operational, despite the fact that there were counter-drone systems in use the entire rally on Saturday. To make matters worse, the counter-drone unit had technical issues, according to the report, and the operator ( who only had three moths of experience working with the equipment and “lacked knowledge” about it ) had to call an 888 toll-free helpline for technical support.
The Secret Service made sure there was a unified command center with state and local law enforcement, in addition to the operational counter-drone system at Saturday’s rally. Butler received additional information about the size and scope of the rally from the campaign.
” Since the attempted assassination of former President Trump on July 13, the U. S. Secret Service has made comprehensive changes and enhancements to our communications capabilities, resourcing, and protective operations”, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement, according to CBS News. The former president is now under increased protection, and we take the responsibility to make sure his safety and security very seriously.
Trump thanked the Secret Service on Saturday for risking their lives in July to save his own. Despite all the failures, Trump said.
” First, I want to thank the members of the U.S. Secret Service who threw their bodies on top of mine without even giving a second thought to their own lives,” Trump said. They “were on top of me” so quickly. They were the ones who had the most faith in me. You watched those tapes. Not even a moment of doubt”.
The former president continued, referring to another assassination attempt in Florida, and that they “dedicated a devotion to duty that cannot be described, and they did it once more less than three weeks ago, when they really did a fantastic job.”
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered issues of culture and education for Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner. He is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow and holds a degree from the University of Virginia. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.