After a gunman was let to open fire on Donald Trump on Monday, the US Secret Service promised to collaborate with an independent assessment in the face of mounting criticism over a massive security lapse.
At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the 78-year-old former president was the target of a blatant attempt at assassination, which left him hurt but alive and startled a country already sharply divided before the November election.
“The Secret Service is working with all involved federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again,” the agency’s director Kimberly Cheatle said in a statement.
“We understand the importance of the independent review announced by President (Joe) Biden yesterday and will participate fully,” Cheatle added.
At a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was speaking when there were several bangs.
Blood was apparent on his cheek and ear as he gripped his ear and dove to the ground as Secret Service operatives poured onto the podium, encircling him and hurried him to a waiting car.
Two onlookers were hurt, and the gunman and a bystander were killed.
The Washington Post said on Monday that recently discovered footage confirmed eyewitness’ accounts that they had physically pointed at the gunman and shouted out to the police while he lay on the roof getting ready to fire.
The shots targeting Trump rang out 86 seconds after the first audible attempts to warn the police, the Post said, citing an analysis it did of video clips from the scene of the attack.
Biden ordered a full review of the security at the rally, as well as at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump will be crowned the party’s presidential nominee.
He also ordered Secret Service protection for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and long-time vaccine skeptic who has no chance of winning in November, but whose candidacy could potentially sway close contests in key swing states.
