Trump assassination attempt: Criticism of Secret Service ramps up
TEXAS - Criticism of the Secret Service is ramping up in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump. A former agent who lives in Texas is speaking out.
"There were a bunch of failures. The only thing now that we can do is, unfortunately, learn from those failures," said retired Secret Service agent Robert Caltabiano.
The Secret Service is under intense scrutiny, two days after Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet while speaking at a rally near Pittsburgh. A spectator was killed. We now know the 20-year-old gunman bought 50 rounds of ammunition hours before he fired shots from a nearby rooftop, which had a clear line of sight to the rally.
"I think the preparation was not good," said Caltabiano.
The big question: why was that rooftop not properly secured?
"I believe it's the failure of the Secret Service to have provided adequate resources," said Caltabiano. "They didn't have the man power to protect that building, to seal off that building."
Federal law enforcement claims that was the responsibility of local police. But Caltabiano says that just doesn’t cut it.
"I am very sad, very mad, at the fact of people coming to law enforcement and looking at this individual on the roof, and nothing happened. And that is a catastrophic failure in my mind, whether it's local law enforcement or the Secret Service," said Caltabiano.
FOX 7 Austin reporter John Krinjak asked Caltabiano what he believes should have been done differently.
"I can't get into so many different details, but some of the assets that they should have had, they did not have, around the former president. And the additional personnel, in my view, that building should have had people posted over there," said Caltabiano. "Nobody should have been on top of that, that building. Nobody."
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Caltabiano says Trump himself did the right thing amid the chaos. Because the former president immediately dropped to the ground once he’d been shot, Caltabiano says, that bought agents valuable time to rush to Trump’s aid.
"I think as the individuals go, those agents on site did the best that they could from what they had," said Caltabiano.
But Caltabiano worries that with law enforcement stretched so thin, and with Trump rallies like this going off without a hitch for so long, there may have been a false sense of security.
"With complacency sometimes comes disaster," said Caltabiano. "Until, I think, the visceral hate in this country changes, actions like this are going to continue."
The Secret Service is pushing back against the criticism. The agency notes it did boost security for former President Trump in June, and it’s taking steps to prevent something like this from happening again.