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In a shocking revelation detailing monumental security lapses, the US Secret Service failed to receive 102 local radio transmissions concerning the gunman who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump during a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a government watchdog report revealed.
The elite federal agency remained completely oblivious to the crucial radio communications on July 13, 2024, due to a severe operational failure to establish a joint communications room alongside local law enforcement agencies, according to the report released on Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General. Local police units were actively receiving real-time updates regarding the search for a suspicious individual, who was subsequently identified as Thomas Crooks. Highlighting the catastrophic breakdown in intelligence-sharing, the federal watchdog pointed out the minimal communication that left the president exposed. "Instead, we found that the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks," the report notes. The communication vacuum directly prevented field agents from taking pre-emptive security measures to safeguard the stage. "As a result, Secret Service members did not alert President Trump's protective detail about concerns of a suspicious person." Crooks, who was subsequently shot and killed by law enforcement personnel at the venue, managed to open fire while Trump was addressing the crowd from the stage. The high-profile security breach resulted in the death of a bystander and left multiple attendees injured, including Trump, whose ear was grazed by a sniper's bullet. The attacker had secured an elevated position on a nearby rooftop, which provided an unobstructed, direct line of sight to the podium. When pressed for an explanation regarding the systemic vulnerabilities highlighted in the document, the Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Furthermore, the federal inquiry established that Crooks had brazenly operated a drone over the rally site just hours before executing the assassination attempt. This reconnaissance flight went entirely unnoticed by security personnel because the Secret Service's counter-drone system was completely inoperable, it said. The critical anti-drone shield was left in the hands of a single "under-trained" operator who neglected to perform mandatory pre-event diagnostic tests on the equipment, according to the Inspector General. The technician subsequently spent hours trying to troubleshoot the technical malfunction, during which the suspect successfully completed his nearly nine-minute drone flight entirely undetected by the premier protective agency. The damning assessment adds to a growing series of investigations by government watchdogs and congressional committees, all pointing to structural failures and severe shortcomings in the Secret Service's tactical planning for the high-risk political event. (ANI)
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