Secret Service should have watched roof used by Trump rally shooter, acting director says

(CNN) — The US Secret Service “should have had eyes” on the roof where an attempted assassin fired shots at Donald Trump last month, acting Director Ronald Rowe said Friday.

“This was a Secret Service failure,” Rowe told reporters. “That roof should have been covered. We should have had eyes on that.”

Rowe has repeatedly asserted during the press conference that the Secret Service is ultimately to blame for the security failures and that local police forces should not be blamed for the security failures that led to the shooting.

“In no way should any state or local agency supporting us in Butler on July 13th be held responsible for our Secret Service failure,” Rowe said.

“Every single person within the Secret Service feels the weight of what happened” at Trump’s July 13 rally, he added.

“We will earn back your trust,” Rowe said.

Trump has said he wants to continue to holding outdoor events, and Rowe said that whether a presidential candidate is holding an event indoors or outdoors, “it’s on the Secret Service to make sure we create a secure environment.”

“It’s on us to figure out what we need to do to mitigate that,” he said.

First 2024 Trump campaign event with Secret Service counter-snipers

The rally was the first time that Secret Service counter-snipers were sent to Trump’s rallies during this election season.

“Looking back, it was very fortunate that we did,” send the snipers, Rowe said.

Rowe noted that Trump has has counter-snipers from state and local law enforcement offices before.

Still, Rowe said that Trump will have Secret Service counter-sniper coverage moving forward, “as will the president, the vice president, Senator Vance” and the eventual Democratic nominee for vice president.

Lawmakers and other officials have previously questioned whether there should have been additional resources assigned to protect Trump.

“We are going to put full resources out there to make sure that our campaign cadence now has obviously picked up,” he said, “and we are going to make sure that we have all of the resources out there to address any challenges that we have.”

Secret Service didn’t know there was an armed man before shots fired at Trump, Rowe says

Secret Service countersnipers at the rally did not have “any knowledge” that there was a man with a gun on the roof of a nearby building until shots were fired, Rowe said.

“Based on what I know right now, neither the Secret Service countersniper teams nor members of the former president’s security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm,” Rowe said.

“It is my understanding that personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm until they heard gunshots,” he added.

His statement nods to failures in communication between local and federal agents during the rally. Officials have previously said that local officers reported seeing the would-be assassin with a firearm on a roof 30 seconds before shots were fired, but that the message never reached the Secret Service.

USSS won’t provide ‘real time updates’ on any disciplinary procedures for security failures

The Secret Service will not be providing “real time updates” of any potential discipline for agency employees for the security failures as its internal reviews move forward, Rowe said.

He said that a mission assurance review that is ongoing will determine potential policy violations. If it finds violations, a parallel disciplinary review will get underway.

“We are not going to be able to provide real time updates,” Rowe said, calling the internal reviews a “very thorough” investigation.

Pressed by a reporter that Americans deserve information on accountability, Rowe said he would be able to put forward a “high level” statement indicating people are being held “accountable.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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