US Watchdog Report: Secret Service Missed 102 Radio Transmissions, Failing to Warn of Trump Assassination Attempt

(Washington, July 2nd, CNA, Reuters) A report released today by a U.S. government watchdog agency stated that the Secret Service failed to receive 102 radio transmissions from local law enforcement regarding a gunman during a presidential rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, thus missing a critical early warning.

The report from the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security indicated that the Secret Service did not have access to these communications on July 13, 2024, because a joint communications center had not been established with local law enforcement agencies at the time. Police had been continuously broadcasting over the radio searching for a suspicious individual, later identified as the gunman Thomas Crooks.

The report stated, "We found that the Secret Service only received 5 phone calls and 3 text messages concerning Crooks," and "As a result, Secret Service personnel did not relay alerts about the suspicious individual to the protective detail team responsible for Trump."

Crooks opened fire on Trump, who was speaking on stage, at the rally that day and was subsequently killed by law enforcement officers. The shooting resulted in one civilian death and multiple injuries, and Trump sustained a graze wound to his right ear.

An investigation revealed that Crooks had climbed onto the roof of a nearby building, from where he could directly target the stage where Trump was located.

The Inspector General's report made several recommendations for improvement, including strengthening information-sharing mechanisms and addressing potential security vulnerabilities such as "sightline blind spots" before events.

Furthermore, the report indicated that Crooks had flown a drone over the event site hours before the attack, but it went undetected because the Secret Service's counter-drone system was not operational at the time.

The Inspector General stated that the counter-drone system was operated by only one insufficiently trained individual, and equipment testing had not been completed before the event.

The report noted that the operator spent hours attempting to troubleshoot the system, during which time the suspect conducted a drone flight lasting nearly 9 minutes, entirely undetected.

This report is the latest in a series of investigations by U.S. government watchdog agencies and Congress. Previous investigations have pointed out significant security lapses in the Secret Service's deployment for this rally. (Compiled by: Hsu Rui-cheng) 1150703

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