A real confession. The Secret Service “failed” in its mission to protect the Republican candidate for the American presidential election Donald Trump, targeted on July 13 in Pennsylvania by an assassination attempt, assured its director, Kimberly Cheatle, this Monday, July 22, during a hearing in Congress.
“The solemn mission of the Secret Service is to protect our nation’s leaders… On July 13, we failed,” she told a House committee.
“As director, I take full responsibility for any security breaches,” Cheatle added, calling the events “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
Calls for resignation
Since July 13 and the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the Secret Service, responsible for protecting high-ranking American figures, has faced criticism over possible failings and human failings. And calls for Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation have come from both sides of the political spectrum.
An independent investigation has been ordered to shed light on the circumstances of the assassination attempt, and in particular to determine how a shooter was able to end up on the roof of a building with a semi-automatic rifle, less than 150 meters from the platform where the candidate was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern United States.
The 78-year-old former US president was slightly injured in the ear in the shooting. Photos of him with blood running down his face and his fist raised went viral. One bystander was killed and two others were seriously injured. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by the Secret Service 26 seconds after the first of eight shots he fired.
Last weekend, US media reported that the Secret Service had rejected requests to increase Donald Trump’s security in the past. The service handles, among other things, the security of the president, vice president, former presidents and their families, as well as major election candidates and foreign heads of state visiting the United States.