The second assassination attempt at former US President Donald Trump has raised fresh questions about the Secret Service – the federal law enforcement agency tasked with protecting political leaders in the poll-bound nation.
That a gunman could reach within shooting distance of Trump, the US Presidential hopeful, for the second time in about two months has put the agency’s broader ability to protect candidates in question, a report in New York Times said.
Trump’s security was enhanced, including additional agents and improved intelligence, after the assassination attempt that he survived in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 which might as well have helped the former President in Sunday’s attack. Yet the gunman, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was able to get his rifle with to a distance as close as 300-500 yards from his possible target has exposed the issued faced by Secret Service that remain unresolved even after the July 13 attack.
The New York Times report quoted Michael Matranga, a former Secret Service agent who protected President Barack Obama, saying that the agency should seriously consider giving Trump the same security apparatus as the president of the United States gets. Matranga called the attacks on Trump ‘unprecedented.’
Soon after the attack, Trump assured his supporters that he was ‘absolutely safe and well.’ "There were gunshots in my vicinity, but I want you to hear this from me first: I am safe and well. Before rumours get out of hand, know that I am okay," Trump said in a fundraising email.
US lawmakers across political spectrum appreciated the Secret Service agents, but they raised questions on the agency’s leadership considering the suspect’s ability to position himselfnear the former president, the NYT report said.
British daily the Guardian quoted a US Secret Service spokesperson saying ‘we live in dangerous times.” The spokesperson made his assessment at a press conference on Sunday hours after the suspect was spotted with an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing golf, the Guardian report said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US domestic intelligence and security service, is treating the attack as second attempted assassination on the Trump. Pictures released by law enforcement appeared to show a rudimentary sniper’s nest and pointed security questions are sure to be asked about how someone was able to get so close to Trump, the Guardian report said.
The sheriff of West Palm Beach, Ric Bradshaw, told reporters that the attacker was “probably between 300 and 500 yards away from Trump.”
Bradshaw was quoted by the Guardian explaining that the area was surrounded by dense shrubbery allowing the suspect to place himself on the edge of the course largely out of sight. Federal agents divulged that in addition to his AK-47-style rifle and scope, the suspect had two backpacks as well as a GoPro filming device. Bradshaw indicated tha the suspect intended to record his actions.
'He said that had Trump been a sitting president at the time he would never have been allowed by the Secret Service to play golf in such an open environment. But “he is not the sitting president, and so we are limited to what the Secret Service deems possible,” Bradshaw said.
Unlike the attempted assassination on Trump in Butler county, in which the Secret Service has faced serious questions about its competence leading to the resignation of its then director, Kimberly Cheatle, Sunday’s incident appears to paint the agency in a much rosier light, the Guardian report said.
The suspect was spotted by a Secret Service agent who was acting as forward guard. The agent caught sight of a rifle barrel and engaged the suspect, despite the thick greenery flanking the course.
“The Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do, and their agent did a fantastic job,” Bradshaw said.
