Retired Secret Service agent on Trump rally shooting: Outdoor rallies ‘incredibly hard’ to secure

Retired Secret Service agent Jeff James explained the challenges security officers face during outdoor rallies as lawmakers raise questions over the Secret Service’s preparation and response to the attempted assassination attempt against former President Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

When asked on “Fox News Sunday,” how difficult it is to secure an outdoor rally like the one in Butler, Pa., James said, “It’s incredibly hard.”

“Look, this is what the candidates want because if they go into an arena, they get in front of 15,000, 30,000 people tops. These outdoor arenas, you’re looking at 30 [to] 35,000 people that they’re able to be in front of,” James said. “And they desire that, but it creates this huge problem. You know, weapons that are readily available that can be shot, or just even deployed from thousands of yards are out there.”

“So, when these outdoor events come, it is a challenge all on its own, just to even get the inner perimeter secure, let alone stretching it out as far as you can,” he added.

The shooting took place during a Trump rally Saturday night, during which the former president said a bullet pierced his ear. The shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks by the FBI, and one spectator at the rally were killed. Two other attendees were critically injured, the U.S. Secret Service said.

Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Pittsburgh, said authorities have not yet identified a motive for the shooting.

James, who is currently the chief of police at Robert Morris University, added he believes Trump’s security detail has been larger than other presidential figures.

“President Trump, even as a former president, before he became the presumptive nominee like we’ll see in Milwaukee this week … his package of protection was greater than that of former presidents that I saw in my 22-year career. Mostly because he’s a polarizing figure, and he’s out in the public a lot more than you see President Bush, President Obama or even President Clinton,” James said.

“So I know that his package was larger. Once he has become this presumptive nominee, he’s getting all the assets that the president gets..his snipers and armored cars and so on,” he added.

The Republican National Convention is slated to kick off Monday in Milwaukee, where delegates are expected to vote Trump as the party’s presidential nominee. He has been the party’s presumptive nominee since last March after shoring up enough votes in the GOP primary.

In the hours that followed the shooting, several congressional Republicans vowed investigations into the assassination attempt. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) swiftly requested that Cheatle testify at a hearing about the shooting on July 22.

Comer had also requested that the committee receive a briefing from the Secret Service about the shooting. The Secret Service agreed to that, a source told The Hill.

“Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a statement.

The House Homeland Security Committee also said Saturday it was in contact with the Secret Service and requested an official briefing for its members.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi sought to debunk claims of extra protection being denied for Trump and his team at Saturday’s rally.

There is “an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo,” he said in a post on X Sunday morning.