Secret service chief resigns after failed Trump assassination attempt
According to global media, the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, has resigned. This follows criticism of the agency after an attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Cheatle herself admitted it was "the agency's biggest operational failure in decades."
The news of Cheatle's resignation was reported by Reuters, CNN, and NBC.
On July 13, during a rally for Donald Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president. The politician was injured in the ear, but one person at the rally was fatally shot, and two others were wounded. The assailant was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
The agency, especially the Secret Service, faced a wave of criticism. Numerous reports stated that people at the rally warned of an armed man.
Cheatle admits: Biggest failure
The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, was questioned yesterday by the House Oversight Committee.
"I take full responsibility for the security lapse," said Cheatle regarding the events from July 13th, Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania when the Republican presidential candidate was injured in the ear. "In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director."
Cheatle immediately blamed the local police after the failed attack, arguing that they were responsible for what happened in the building from which the assailant fired.
Cheatle worked for the Secret Service for over 27 years. She was responsible for the evacuation of Vice President Dick Cheney during the September 11, 2001, attacks, among other things. She became the agency's director in September 2022.
