Fresh details emerge on Secret Service missteps in Trump attack

The New York Times reports that Secret Service technology failed during the attempt on Donald Trump’s life. The authors claim that the problem was the communication system, which delayed the response to the perceived threat.

According to reports from the "New York Times," Secret Service technology did not fulfill its role during the recent attempt on Donald Trump’s life. The newspaper explained that the services responsible for protecting the Republican presidential candidate erred by not using available technological solutions that could have prevented the assassination attempt.

Information about the presence of a potential assassin, who took a shooting position on a nearby roof, was first received by a local police officer. He reported the situation over the police radio, indicating that near the place where Trump was giving a speech – in Bethel Park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the rally was held – an attacker armed with a rifle was present. These details were provided by the "NYT."

Unfortunately, the police communication system was not integrated with the Secret Service system, resulting in the information about the potential threat not reaching the agents responsible for Trump’s protection. The newspaper emphasized that the communication error was due to oversight on the part of the Secret Service, which did not decide to use more advanced communication tools and signal amplifiers.

During a Senate hearing, Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. informed legislators that his agency had technical capabilities that would have allowed them to notice the assassin in time. Unfortunately, these capabilities were not utilized.

The "NYT" assessed that the Secret Service had many oversights. The services responsible for protecting the President of the United States did not use a drone to monitor the area where the event was held. Additionally, some of the equipment that the Secret Service had at the time of the attempt on Trump was either not functioning correctly or was improperly used—such information was provided by the newspaper.

One possible reason for these oversights is the lack of investment in modern technological solutions. According to Secret Service budget reports, the agency allocates only one percent of its funds to them, which amounts to CAD 5.4 million annually. Furthermore, the service’s leadership this year appealed to the US Congress to reduce this amount to CAD 3 million, noted the "NYT."

The newspaper pointed out that this incident could have been avoided if the communication and the rest of the technology had worked correctly. Unfortunately, due to oversights and negligence on the part of the Secret Service, the twenty-year-old shooter gained a technological advantage over the federal agency, whose budget is about CAD 4.1 billion – according to the "NYT."

On July 13, Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in the presidential elections, became the target of a failed assassination attempt. It was carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at him from a distance of 140 metres during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The young assassin injured two people and killed one.