Most of the security detail was reportedly made up of other DHS personnel
Whistleblowers have informed Senator Josh Hawley that most of the security personnel at a recent Pennsylvania rally for US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump were not Secret Service agents. According to these whistleblowers, the event resulted in a shooting incident where a sniper fired shots from a nearby factory roof, injuring Trump and killing one attendee.
Senator Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, has accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of assigning “unprepared and inexperienced personnel” to the rally. He claims that whistleblowers with “direct knowledge of the event” told him that the majority of the security detail “were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).”
The whistleblowers have alleged that security measures were inadequate, including the lack of dog patrols, failure to properly vet access to backstage areas, and insufficient deployment of security personnel around the perimeter and podium.
Hawley, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has vowed to protect the whistleblowers while he investigates the “staggering security failures on July 13.” He has demanded answers from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas within seven days.
The building from which Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire had been used by local law enforcement as a security base. It remains unclear how Crooks was able to access the roof undetected, despite civilians repeatedly alerting police and Secret Service agents for almost 20 minutes before he fired.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has attributed the absence of Secret Service personnel on the roof to its sloped structure, which she claimed posed a safety risk. However, the House Oversight Committee remains unconvinced and has issued a subpoena to compel Cheatle to testify before Congress under oath.
Trump narrowly avoided a direct hit to the head by turning his head at the last moment. After being surrounded by security, he stood up, raised his fist, and urged his followers to “fight.” Republicans formally nominated him as their presidential candidate at this week’s national convention in Milwaukee.