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I spent a couple of years in my career with Broaddus Defense, a private company that helps clients prevent and prepare to respond to violent attacks. The Secret Service fumbled the response to the attempted assassination of President Trump yesterday, and every member of the assigned team and their superiors should be taken in front of a Senate committee and grilled during a session that is carried live by every single media platform. This event and the Secret Service’s response is why we drill.
First, let’s address the fact that people saw a man with a gun on a rooftop and there seemed to be no immediate action taken by the Secret Service or law enforcement.
Witness tells BBC he saw gunman on top of a building located just outside Trump rally
Follow updates https://t.co/QvX8HL6tJf pic.twitter.com/nEEMhEF9m7— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 14, 2024
The obvious question is why the rooftop wasn’t secured in the first place. Secret Service agents sweep every rooftop, building, crawlspace, and crevice multiple times before an event. A former agent I know swept a house in Los Angeles ahead of a presidential candidate fundraiser, and he and his partner went through every drawer, shelf, curtain, closet, terrace, and hedge because that is their protocol.
There should also be a procedure in place for communicating a newly discovered threat. As soon as someone identified a threat, agents should have relayed the report immediately through a clear chain of communication.
Before the event and during setup, a grid should have been overlaid on a map of the immediate area that would assign each building and structure an identifying code.
When the report came through, the reporting agent should have named the location of the threat and the degree of the threat (ranging from «unattended package» to «person with a gun»).
Agents nearest the location should have responded decisively and rapidly to investigate and, if necessary, neutralize the threat.
None of that seemed to have happened.
Full video clip with audio of the assas*nation attempt against Trump.
Shots ring out.
Trump hits the ground with a wound to his ear.
Trump tells Secret Service he is not leaving the stage without his shoes.
Trump refuses to leave the stage until he pumps his fists and shouts… pic.twitter.com/pEOK4XFOgq— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 14, 2024
Next, let’s talk about the dogpile of humanity that falls on top of President Trump. Multiple shots and five seconds before three agents smothered Trump. Their immediate next action should have been to force President Trump off the stage, even if they had to physically lift and carry him.
