Secret Service faces safety challenges defending Trump
Trump had elevated safety Sunday when an assassination try was thwarted. USA Today spoke with consultants about the challenges of defending him.
The Secret Service is once more below a microscope following what legislation enforcement officers say was an obvious second try to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday, thrusting the embattled company into new debates and investigations because it reels from a lethal July taking pictures.
Though it has been simply two months since Trump was focused by a gunman at a marketing campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the place one bystander was killed, the Secret Service has already skilled a number of upheavals, from on-the-ground operations to senior management.
Ronald Rowe Jr., the Secret Service deputy director, was tapped as the performing director of the embattled company in late July after the former director resigned following blistering criticism from bipartisan lawmakers investigating the taking pictures.
Live Updates: Suspect in Trump assassination try charged, did not fireplace any shots
While the Biden administration searches for a brand new, everlasting chief, Rowe will possible step into the exact same sizzling seat that finally led to his predecessor's abrupt exit. Though the former director, Kimberly Cheatle, served in the place for 2 years — in comparison with Rowe's lower than two months in the position — management will little doubt be topic to extra powerful questions as details of Sunday's try proceed to emerge.
Who is performing Secret Service director Ronald Rowe?
Rowe has been with the company for 25 years, beginning in 1999 after serving as a police officer in West Palm Beach, Florida, coincidentally the similar metropolis the place the second alleged assassination try happened Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club.
Before assuming management roles, Rowe was on former President George W. Bush's presidential protecting element from 2004 to 2008, served as employees of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary from 2008 to 2011, and labored on initiatives associated to state-sponsored financial espionage and cybersecurity. According to his Secret Service bio, Rowe was additionally chosen for a joint obligation project to the National Intelligence Council in 2013, and he labored on the White House National Security Council as a National Security and Law Enforcement Policy Advisor in 2011.
Cheatle appointed Rowe as her top deputy in April 2023. In that position, he was accountable for direct oversight of the company’s every day investigative and protecting operations. He additionally guided the company’s insurance policies “and was responsible for introducing state-of-the-art technologies to enhance the agency’s protective countermeasures,” in line with his official bio.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed Rowe to function the performing director of the company in July, a couple of days after Cheatle was grilled by members of the House Oversight Committee for the company's failures in almost permitting a 20-year-old sniper to kill Trump throughout a Pennsylvania marketing campaign rally on July 13.
“I have the utmost confidence in Deputy Director Rowe and the men and women of the Secret Service, who put their lives on the line every day and deserve our full support,” Mayorkas stated in a statement throughout the July 23 appointment.
Rowe is on location in West Palm Beach to stroll by way of the website of the tried second assassination and meet with legislation enforcement companions on Monday, in line with reporting by CNN.
In a July 30 testimony earlier than the Senate Judiciary and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees, Rowe known as the Pennsylvania taking pictures “a failure on multiple levels” and recounted what he noticed at the website after an in-person go to.
“What I saw made me ashamed. As a career law enforcement officer, and a twenty-five-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” Rowe stated. “To prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future, I directed our personnel to ensure every event site security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented.”
The performing director has not but made a press release on Sunday's obvious assassination try.
Suspect Ryan Routh, who appeared in federal courtroom Monday, is being held on expenses of possession of a firearm whereas a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial quantity. Authorities say he by no means fired a shot.
USA TODAY's Josh Meyer contributed to this report.
Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at kapalmer@gannett.com and observe her on X @KathrynPlmr.
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