Butler rally was first Trump event of 2024 with Secret Service snipers, officials say
When U.S. Secret Service counter snipers pulled up to a farm grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 10, just three days before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, it was the first time this campaign cycle that the highly trained, tactical unit had been deployed to secure an event for the former president.
“It was the first time Secret Service counter snipers were deployed to support” a Trump event this year, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe confirmed to CBS News during a news conference Friday, held at the federal law enforcement agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
On July 13, a gunman opened fire on Trump from a rooftop roughly 400 feet away from the former president during an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A CBS News video analysis determined that the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, fired eight shots in under six seconds before he was fatally struck by a round from one of the counter snipers — a fact later confirmed by the FBI.
resigned amid pressure from lawmakers.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday delayed plans to meet and consider next year’s funding for the U.S. Secret Service.
In testimony Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, Rowe conceded that the July 13 shooting “made me ashamed,” adding that he “cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”
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Scott MacFarlane and
Kaia Hubbard
contributed to this report.
Source: cbsnews.com