GOP nominee Donald Trump will soon be able to hold outdoor rallies again, one month after an assassination attempt occurred at the last one he held in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Secret Service is in the process of arranging these outdoor campaign rallies, with plans to surround the podium Trump stands at to speak with glass that is bulletproof, two officials with federal law enforcement agencies told CBS News recently.
This tactic is something the Secret Service is used to taking, but typically only for sitting U.S. presidents. The agency is making an exception in this case since Trump was targeted by an assassination attempt.
One of the bullets grazed Trump’s ear before a sniper with the Secret Serable to kill the gunman.
Kim Cheatle put this new plan into motion after the assassination attempt took place. She was serving as the director of the Secret Service then, but has since stepped down after receiving lots of criticism for her agency’s failures that day.
The Secret Service wouldn’t provide detailed plans about what they will do for Trump in regards to the bulletproof glass.
Generally, though, the agency puts personnel in pre-positions in battleground states across the country so that units can be within driving distance of multiple campaign rallies that take place.
Despite the now real threat on his life, Trump has vowed for the last month that he would continue to appear at outdoor rallies. He said the Secret Service “agreed to substantially step up” their operations.
That’s going to mark another step-up in operations for the agency, which had already agreed to an increased security presence for the Butler rally. It was the first event of this election cycle where highly-trained counter snipers were present — and thankfully, they were there.
There were many security lapses that also took place, though, which resulted in the gunman being able to scale the building to have sight of Trump while he was speaking at the podium.
Cheatle ultimately resigned in the aftermath of the assassination attempt.
The acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, ended up disclosing that the counter snipers didn’t have any radio communications with local law enforcement officers that day, relying instead on text messages with tactical teams from Butler County.
The team ended up sending snipers two pictures of the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, about 26 minutes before he fired the first shot.
Rowe conceded in hearings after the incident that the issues with communication among different law enforcement agencies resulted in critical information being delayed in getting to Secret Service agents.
So, while local law enforcement officials were pursuing Crooks as he lay on top of the building, Secret Service agents didn’t know what was going on. By the time they realized there was a threat, Crooks had already fired shots, hitting Trump and some other people at the rally, one of whom was killed.
