Six agents have been issued suspensions by the U.S. Secret Service for failures connected to last year’s attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, an official told ABC News.
The personnel moves were confirmed four days shy of the anniversary of the July 13, 2024, shooting incident that left Trump’s ear bloodied.
Corey Comperatore, a firefighter attending Trump’s campaign rally that day, died in the attack.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Countersnipers in Trump’s Secret Service who were on-site killed the shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
In the aftermath of the shooting, an independent review by the Department of Homeland Security showed a series of law enforcement breakdowns had created an environment that left Trump vulnerable to a would-be assassin.
“The Secret Service does not perform at the elite levels needed to discharge its critical mission,” the report found. “The Secret Service has become bureaucratic, complacent, and static even though risks have multiplied and technology has evolved.”
The Secret Service director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned 10 days after the shooting.
An empty blood stained bleacher where supporters were gathered is seen after Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump was shot at during a campaign rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, PA, July 13, 2024.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The discipline against the six agents was issued in recent months, and the agents have the right to appeal. The suspensions ranged from 10 to 42 days, according to the official, who was briefed on the agency’s actions.
The positions of those suspended ranged from supervisory level to line agent level, a source familiar with the agency’s decision told ABC News.
Just nine weeks after the shooting in Butler, Trump had a second apparent assassination attempt on his life while he was out golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the wake of both incidents, the then-candidate was granted presidential-level security as his campaign grappled with new security protocols in the planning of his events.
