Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe on Friday continued to expose shortcomings since the day former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Rowe also revealed that no one has been fired yet because of Trump’s near-death experience.
The acting director explained that Secret Service officials had no radio contact with local police and were unaware that Thomas Matthew Crooks had pointed a gun at the ex-president before opening fire.
Rowe confirmed that “someone radioed in that they saw the individual with a weapon.”
“What I can tell you is that this piece of information, that critical piece of information, and it was a very stressful situation beyond anyone’s control, it did not survive,” Rowe said.
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe continued to reveal errors Friday since the day former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Local and regional law enforcement officers are not on the same radio network as Secret Service agents.
According to Rowe, members of Trump’s Secret Service “operated under that assumption” based on the latest information they had received.
“That there was a problem with the locals working at three o’clock,” he said, using a clock as a pointer. “That’s a bit of information we had. Nothing about a gun.”
In fact, more details about the threat were already being shared when the shots rang out.
“So the former president’s department — they had a senior person on the ground who was responsible for the location,” Rowe said. “The radio broadcast goes out about local people working on a problem at 3 o’clock.”
“The member of that detachment called their Pittsburgh Field Office colleague. ‘Hey, what do you know about this?’ In the middle of that phone call, the shots started going off,” Rowe said.
The former president is a proponent of holding large outdoor gatherings, but Rowe suggested that the heavy radio chatter — from people reporting medical emergencies due to the heat — may have played a role in jamming the airwaves at a key time.
Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by his Secret Service team moments after a bullet hit his ear during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13
Rowe said there had been about 100 requests for support prior to the shooting.
“It was a very hot day that day,” Rowe explained. “There were a lot of – not just EMS type calls to engage people, but there were people that needed other types of law enforcement assistance.”
“This happens. It happens very often at outdoor gatherings, especially on hot days,” the acting director continued.
“So there was a lot of traffic, radio traffic on the local network saying, ‘Hey, I need an ambulance here.’ So there were a lot of people needing help,” Rowe said.
Rowe said it was now “abundantly obvious” that the Secret Service did not have the information it needed, but he declined to assign blame.
“It’s just that there was a sense of urgency, that there was radio traffic that we missed,” he said. “We’ve got to do a better job of that.”
During the press conference, which lasted less than an hour, Rowe indicated he would “make a statement that people will be held accountable” when asked whether the American public would be notified of any firings following the attempted assassination.
He also said that all major leaders — Trump, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and whoever Harris chooses as her vice president — will now have a Secret Service sniper team at their events.
Rowe was also asked about a whistleblower’s accusation that he “personally directed” cuts to the agency’s Counter Surveillance Division, the unit charged with pre-screening event venues.
“I’m aware of this. We’ve had a congressional letter about it. What I can tell you is the Counter Surveillance Division is doing a fantastic job,” Rowe said.
He said he was aware of allegations that he had rejected requests to use them.
“The Counter Surveillance Division has been there supporting the former president at some very high profile events. They continue to provide that support and they are there now to provide that support,” Rowe said.
When asked if he had cut CSD’s resources, he replied: ‘No, I haven’t.’