The US Secret Service has bolstered the security details of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump following the assassination attempt on the former president, a top official said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Secret Service, laid out the change in posture on Monday at the White House amid scrutiny of the agency’s protective efforts. Trump’s newly selected running mate, J.D. Vance, will also receive the “appropriate level of security,” Mayorkas said.
“Adjustments have been made to the former president’s detail, to the current president’s detail, as well as to the vice president’s detail,” the Homeland Security chief told reporters. Mayorkas declined to detail specifically what changes had taken place, citing security cocnerns.
The Saturday shooting at a Pennsylvania rally has thrust the embattled Secret Service into a full-blown crisis. The agency had already faced criticism for security lapses, agent misconduct and low staff morale before the attempted killing of Trump shocked the nation.
Mayorkas said the Secret Service would consider the “threat environment” while planning security for outdoor political events in the future. The secretary said he retains “100% confidence” in the Secret Service and its leadership, and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden shared that sentiment.
Lawmakers have announced investigations into the attack amid questions about how the shooter was allowed to gain access to a roof with a clear line of sight to Trump, as well as the Secret Service’s protection plan for the former president. The agency on Sunday denied allegations from Trump allies it rejected the Republican candidate’s request for more security.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations said the lone-wolf attack was carried out from an open rooftop by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who wounded Trump’s right ear, killed a bystander and critically wounded two others before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper at the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Fueling scrutiny, some attendees’ claims that they tried to alert authorities about a man crawling a roof with a rifle minutes before the shooting. Others have questioned why the rooftop, a little more than a football field’s length away from where Trump was speaking, hadn’t been secured. The incident has also focused attention on how well local, state and federal law enforcement agencies communicated before the shooting and as it unfolded.
Mayorkas said earlier Monday on CNN that the shooting represented a security failure. He vowed a thorough, independent review “to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The administration also announced it would be extending protection for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, said he plans to hold a hearing on the shooting and would call Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, controlled by Democrats, also plans to conduct an investigation.
Saturday’s shooting was the most serious assassination attempt of a president or major party presidential candidate since 1981, when a gunman seriously wounded President Ronald Reagan.
But over the last decade, the Secret Service’s reputation has been marred.
In 2012, agents were implicated in a prostitution scandal in Colombia while they were preparing for a visit by then-President Barack Obama. An armed intruder jumped over a White House fence in 2014 and was able to enter the building before being stopped. In 2017, another fence jumper walked around the grounds for 17 minutes while Trump was inside the residence. The agency also faced questions about its response to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
With assistance from Riley Griffin.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
