(The Center Square) – A progressive member of Congress wants answers after someone nearly took former President Donald Trump's life this past weekend.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., penned a letter to Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, expressing many concerns after the assassination attempt at Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Law enforcement agencies confirmed that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear, narrowly missing his head. Two supporters in nearby stands were killed.
Gallego called the death tragic and called on the Secret Service to do a better job protecting Trump.
"I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately," Gallego wrote.
Gallego demanded answers to the following questions:
Did the Trump campaign request additional protection or resources for this event? If so, were those resources denied, and why?Did the Secret Service detail, separate from President Trump's campaign team, request additional resources?Who approved the security plan for this event?Was a proper threat assessment of nearby buildings conducted?Did attendees of the event raise any alarms? If so, how were any concerns handled before the attempted assassination?Were there any failures in protocol that enabled the shooting? If not, how was President Trump, one of only six living current or former Presidents and a current Major Presidential Candidate, almost assassinated, and what needs to change?Will the Secret Service reconsider its denial of protection for Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday that his agency would extend Secret Service protection for Kennedy.
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., and chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote Mayorkas, saying the "seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation's history cannot be understated."
Gallego expressed his support for democracy and said that U.S. Secret Service must do everything in its power to prevent something like this from happening again.
"We are a nation of laws and of free and fair elections. It is why we are the greatest country in the world," Gallego wrote. "This was a security failure at the highest level, not seen since the attempted assassination of President Reagan. This cannot happen, and I demand accountability."
Gallego is running for U.S. Senate.
The assassination attempt of former President Ronald Reagan occurred in 1981 while Reagan was in office. It was the last assassination attempt of a former or current U.S. President.
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