Immediately following the July 13 assassination attempt, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) released five preliminary findings on how the security was handled for the former president's rally. Senator Johnson and other Congressmen also attended a USSS Senate briefing after the incident, which he said was "unbelievably uninformative." During the briefing, only four questions were allowed, according to Johnson, so he submitted his questions in writing to AG Garland, Secretary Mayorkas, and Director Wray.
On Monday, Secret Service Director Cheatle appeared under subpoena to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee. Cheatle has refused to resign despite a colossal failure in security that killed beloved Corey Comperatore, injured two others, and nearly killed a presidential candidate. Fifty-seven minutes passed between the time law enforcement snapped photos of the shooter, Crooks and the time of the shooting. Nine days after the rally, Cheatle has yet to provide a complete list of all the names of security personnel at the Trump rally.
One of the more stunning revelations alleges, "Secret Service did not attend a security briefing provided to local special weapons and tactics (SWAT) and sniper teams the morning of July 13, 2024." The other four findings, according to Johnson's July 21 press release, allege:
- Communications between local law enforcement and the Secret Service were "siloed," in other words, were not talking directly with each other.
- Local law enforcement notified the Secret Service about Crooks before the shooting and the notification was aware of the notification.
- Secret Service was seen with local law enforcement on the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building after the shooting and photos of the shooter were sent "to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) for facial recognition." and,
- Secret Service was "initially not going to send snipers to the rally, according to local law enforcement."
Concerning the failure to attend the security briefing on the morning of July 13, Johnson provided some of the details:
According to information obtained by Senator Johnson's office, there were less than 40 local SWAT operators and snipers assigned to the Butler rally. During the briefing, Butler ESU provided local law enforcement with images of the security perimeter at the rally—which did not include the American Glass Research (AGR) building where the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was located—the location of law enforcement agents, and a breakdown of security sectors on the farm show grounds. Secret Service did not attend this security briefing according to individuals with knowledge of the briefing."
According to Johnson's letter, the reason the Secret Service did not attend the briefing is still unknown.
Local law enforcement shared that communications were routed through Butler ESU command and then to the Secret Service or other local law enforcement patrols. The lack of direct communications may have contributed to delayed responses and decision-making on the ground.
According to Johnson's findings, snipers did observe Crooks an hour or so before Trump was shot at 6:11 pm. At 5:10 pm, "one of two local law enforcement snipers" (AGR sniper 1) allegedly observed the shooter for the first time. Local law enforcement told Johnson's office the shooter "seemed suspicious." At 5:14 pm, AGR sniper 1 "took at least two pictures of Crooks," with one of the pictures looking like he was on his phone. Then, at 5:32, AGR sniper 1 "saw Crooks again near the AGR building, apparently looking at news feeds on his phone and holding a range finder." AGR sniper 1 also reported his sighting to other snipers and was "instructed to report the suspect to command." At 5:41, AGR sniper1 called into command and told them Crooks had a range finder. He also texted Beaver EDU Group Command at 5:45 pm and asked them to relay the message to command. By 5:59, a Beaver County law enforcement operator "received confirmation from a Butler County SWAT commander that command, which included Secret Service, was made aware of the messages and requested more information about the suspect's location."
Interestingly, on Monday, Rep. Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) also revealed in the House Oversight Hearing that at 5:51 pm, only twenty minutes before Trump was shot, NBC reported local law enforcement "informed the Secret Service of their concern." Two minutes later, at 5:53, according to Krishnamoorthi, "the Secret Service notified its snipers about the gunman." Then Krishnamoorthi presented video footage showing rally-goers pointing to Crooks on the roof two minutes before former President Trump was shot.
Hence, despite the repeated signals and warnings, no one thought to take Trump off stage and pause the rally. Cheatle confirmed the rally was not paused in her answers to Krishnamoorthi on Monday. Cheatle also said during the hearing that Crooks was identified as "suspicious" but not identified as a "threat." She maintained that the Secret Service did not know he had a gun before Trump's speech.
Johnson's report also included a preliminary timeline of events. The timeline begins on July 5, the day USSS first informed Butler County Emergency Services (Butler ESU) of Trump's plans to hold a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024. July 8 was the first day Butler ESU allegedly met with Secret Service and they made their first site visit on July 10. The rest of the timeline provided by Johnson can be viewed below:
Whistleblowers have allegedly told Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) that the rally on July 13 was "considered to be a 'loose' security event." As a result, according to a letter Hawley sent to Secretary Mayorkas, detection canines were not deployed to "monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner" for an event of this import. In addition, his letter alleges individuals were allowed to gain access to backstage areas "without the proper designations." Moreover, personnel did not "appropriately police the security buffer around the podium," nor were they stationed at "regular intervals around the event's security perimeter." Hawley's letter also stated the majority of security assigned to the event were not USSS agents but "instead drawn from the department's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)." HSI is allegedly not familiar with the standard protocols needed in "these types of events."
