The protection agency said Friday it’d placed “multiple” agents on leave as part of its probe into how a 20-year-old nursing home worker was able to come within inches of assassinating a former president, MSNBC reported.
Among those reportedly taken off duty was the special agent in charge of the agency’s Pittsburgh field office. MSNBC reported that “five or six” agents in total were placed on leave as “disciplinary action.”
Fox News reported that a member of Trump’s personal protection team was among those place on leave. The identity of that agent was not released, but some in his detail were criticized by security experts for their response in getting Trump safely back to his motorcade.
It’s unclear how long the agents will remain on leave. Federal employees on administrative leave typically still receive pay and benefits, but that can reportedly vary by agency and situation.
“The U.S. Secret Service’s mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures, and factors that led to this operational failure,” the agency said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
The decision comes weeks after the Secret Service’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on July 23. That concluded a tumultuous ten-day period where she tried to shift blame for the rally disaster onto local cops.
Body-camera footage from Pennsylvania police suggested they had warned the Secret Service that it needed to use its own agents to secure the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from—about 400 feet from Trump and the rally stage.
The aftermath of Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The warehouse rooftop where Thomas Crooks opened fire from can be seen in the background.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
“I f---ing told them they need to post the f---ing guys over here… the Secret Service,” the officer says in the video. “I told them that f---ing Tuesday. I told them to f---ing post guys over here.”
Crooks ultimately rattled off three shots before a sniper killed him within seconds. His gunfire injured Trump’s right ear, killed Corey Comperatore, and injured rally attendees James Copenhaver and David Dutch.
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