U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe delivers an update on the agency’s internal probe following the first of two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
U.S. Secret Service (USSS) leaders are holding a 1 p.m. update on the agency’s internal investigation following the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Acting Director Ronald Rowe said the agency had confirmed “communication deficiencies” that slowed its response when the gunman climbed up on a rooftop just outside the secure perimeter.
“For example, the Secret Service did not co-locate its security room with local law enforcement”, he said. “There was an over-reliance on mobile devices, resulting in information being siloed.”
He shared a timeline of events that showed communications were split between radio and phone, resulting in a delayed response to the initial alert that something was going on at the AGR building, within 150 yards of the former president.
“At approximately 1810 local time, by a phone call, the Secret Service security room calls the counter sniper response agent, reporting an individual on the roof of the building”, Rowe said.
