An independent panel investigating the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania faulted the U.S. Secret Service for poor communications on that day and failing to secure the building where the gunman ultimately took his shots. The review additionally found more systemic issues at the agency, such as failure to understand the unique risks of the former president and a culture of doing “more with less.”
The 52-page report issued on Thursday took the Secret Service to task for specific issues leading up to the rally on July 13 in Butler and for a deeper problem with the agency’s culture. It recommended bringing in new, outside leadership and refocusing on its mission to protect.
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission,” wrote the authors to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — the parent agency of the Secret Service — in a letter that accompanied the report. “Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”
One rally attendee was killed, and two others were wounded when now-deceased gunman Thomas Michael Crooks climbed atop a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke. The former president was wounded in his right ear prior to being rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents. The shooting, along with another attempted assassination incident in Florida when Trump was golfing — the gunmen never got a line of sight on Trump or fired a shot — has led to a confidence crisis in the agency.
The report from four former law enforcement officials from state and national government follows an investigation from the agency’s investigators, Homeland Security’s oversight body, and members of Congress.
A look at the key recommendations and findings:
The panel echoed prior reports that have focused on the failure to secure the building close to the rally that had a clear sight line to where Trump was speaking, as well as numerous communications issues that hampered the ability of local and state law enforcement and the Secret Service to communicate with each other.
“The failure to secure a complex of buildings, portions of which were within approximately 130 yards of the protectee and containing numerous positions carrying a high-angle line of sight risk, represents a critical security failure,” said the report.
The panel blamed the planning between local law enforcement and the Secret Service. It said the Secret Service failed to inquire about what was being done to secure the building: “Relying on a general understanding that ‘the locals have that area covered’ is simply not good enough, and, in fact, at Butler, this attitude contributed to the security failure.”
The panel additionally cited that there were two separate command posts at the rally in Butler: one with the Secret Service and one with various local law enforcement: “This created, at the highest level, a structural divide in the flow of communications.”
The panel additionally cited the fact that there were two separate command posts at the rally in Butler: one with numerous local law enforcement and a separate one with the Secret Service: “This created, at the highest level, a structural divide in the flow of communications.”
There were various other problems with communications.
The Secret Service had to switch to a different radio channel because radio traffic from other Secret Service agents protecting First Lady Jill Biden at a Pittsburgh event was popping up on the channels of agents covering the rally in Butler.
The panel additionally noted that all law enforcement personnel on the ground communicated throughout the day using a “chaotic mixture” of email, radio, cell phone, and text.
The panel also said it was not clear who had the final command that day.
Panel dug into the agency culture
The report dug into the agency’s culture and painted a picture of an agency struggling to think critically about how it conducts its mission, particularly when it comes to protecting Trump.
The panel said personnel with the agency operated under the assumption they must “do more with less.” The report stated the additional security measures taken to protect the former president after the shooting in Butler should have been taken before.
“To be clear, the Panel did not identify any nefarious or malicious intent behind this phenomenon, but rather an overreliance on assigning personnel based on categories (former, candidate, nominee) instead of an individualized assessment of risk,” wrote the panel.
The panel additionally noted the “back-and-forth” between Trump’s security detail and the Secret Service headquarters regarding how many people were needed to protect them.
The panel additionally faulted some of the senior-level staff involved in the rally for what they labeled a “lack of ownership.” In one example, the panel said a site senior agent who was tasked with coordinating communications didn’t walk around the rally site ahead of time and didn’t brief the state police counterpart prior to the rally about how communications would be managed.
It cited the inexperience of two specific agents who provided security for the July 13 rally. One was the Trump detail’s site agent, whose job was to coordinate with the Pittsburgh field office on security planning for the rally. The panel said the agent had only been on Trump’s detail since 2023 and had graduated from the Secret Service Academy in 2020. Prior to the Butler rally, the agent had only done “minimal previous site advance work or site security planning.”
Another agent assigned to operate a drone detection system had only operated the technology at two previous events.
Having a united command post at all large events where law enforcement representatives and the Secret Service are all physically in the same place; security plans must include a way to mitigate line-of-sight concerns out to 1,000 yards and who is in charge at the event; overhead surveillance for all outdoor events; and additional training on how to get protectees out of dangerous scenarios.
The panel stated the agency also needs outside, new leadership and a renewed focus on its core protective mission while expressing skepticism the agency should continue with the investigations it conducts currently. While the Secret Service is well known for what it does to protect dignitaries and presidents, it additionally investigates financial crimes.
“In the panel’s opinion, it is simply unacceptable for the Secret Service to have anything less than a paramount focus on its protective mission, particularly while that protective mission function is presently suboptimal,” said the report.
The panel members were David Mitchell, who served in numerous local and state law enforcement roles in Delaware and Maryland; Frances Fragos Townsend, President George W. Bush’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism; Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary under President Barack Obama; and Mark Filip, deputy attorney general under Bush.
