Six Secret Service agents punished over Trump assassination attempt

A gunman opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: Six Secret Service agents on duty during last year’s assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally received suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days, the agency said on Thursday.

The Secret Service did not identify the agents or disclose specific grounds for their suspensions.

A gunman opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, while the candidate was speaking on stage. The shooter accessed a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to the former president.

Trump and others were injured, and a bystander and the shooter were killed. Multiple investigations were launched into the Secret Service, and its director resigned.

Trump said in an interview that will air on Saturday that the Secret Service erred by not stationing an agent on the rooftop and not including local police in the communications system.

“So there were mistakes made. And that shouldn’t have happened,” he said during an interview with Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump.”

Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who was the agent in charge of Trump’s security detail at the rally, said in a statement: “The agency has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future.”

The Secret Service said it has implemented 21 of 46 recommendations made by congressional oversight bodies. Sixteen other recommendations were in progress and nine were not directed at the Secret Service, it said.

The Secret Service said it was implementing protective measures for golf courses. After the Butler assassination attempt, a man with a gun hid near a Trump-owned golf course in Florida with the intent to kill the then-Republican presidential candidate.