Earlier, the Secret Service held a press briefing to discuss updates on the investigation into the events of July 13, 2024, when GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump was nearly assassinated at a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. spoke for nearly 50 minutes, stating at the start of it that "The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13th. This was a mission failure."
"The sole responsibility of our agency is to make sure our protectees are never put in danger. We fell short of that in Butler, and I'm working to make sure that this failure does not happen again" Rowe also said.
Several damning admissions were made during the presser, including how "personnel" allegedly did not know the attempted assassin, Thomas Crooks, was in possession of a firearm until after shots were fired:
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. says personnel “were not aware” the Trump shooter had a firearm until they heard gunshots. pic.twitter.com/XTulAkqDts
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) August 2, 2024
Rowe also confirmed that this rally was the first one where counter-snipers were deployed for Trump:
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. says the Butler rally was the FIRST time counter-snipers were deployed to President Trump’s detail. pic.twitter.com/RcvZyV04Pb
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) August 2, 2024
Perhaps most alarmingly, Rowe admitted that an officer on the ground did send a message indicating a person with a weapon had been spotted - but that the Secret Service did not receive it:
"With respect to the radio transmissions, you know, based on what the FBI, my colleague from the FBI testified the other day — they are working on isolating some of those radio frequencies from the state level — that there was somebody who did in fact radio out that they'd seen the individual with the weapon. What I can tell you is that that piece of information, that vital piece of information, by no fault of anyone, it was a very stressful situation. It did not make it over."
Watch:
Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe: "We identify challenges, we identify concerns and then it's on us to figure out what we need to do to mitigate that." pic.twitter.com/KX1kxu4sF9
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 2, 2024
Rowe also denied a whistleblower's allegation that he "was directly involved in denying additional security resources and personnel, including counter snipers, to former President Trump’s rallies and events":
Despite claims from a whistleblower, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. says he did not direct cuts for threat assessments. pic.twitter.com/X4LmeqhjcJ
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) August 2, 2024
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to RedState for updates.
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