The head of a prominent police union on Tuesday accused the acting head of the U.S. Secret Service of shifting blame after he told Congress that local authorities were supposed to have covered the rooftop where a gunman opened fire on former President Trump in a failed assassination attempt.
Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, expressed frustration at the answer given by Ronald Rowe, acting director of the Secret Service, during a joint Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing examining the security failures that led to the failed assassination attempt on Trump.
"The Secret Service still cannot seem to provide any answers almost three weeks after the attempt on the former president’s life, but they don’t seem to have any trouble assigning blame on a partner agency," Yoes said. "It is the responsibility of the Secret Service to ensure the safety of their protectee — all that the local agencies can do is assist them with manpower and resources."
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The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who shot Trump in the ear, fired from the roof of a nearby building during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has been heavily criticized for security lapses that allowed Crooks to get that close to the former president.
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Yoes said Rowe's remarks were like "a general blaming a tank driver for losing a battle. The Acting Director needs to focus on finding out what went wrong before he blames his agency’s local law enforcement partners."
Rowe testified before congressional lawmakers that the Secret Service was told by local law enforcement that the "building was going to be covered."
He further said that he didn't "understand why there was not better coverage" before asking, "Why was the assailant not seen?" Rowe later said agents "assumed the state and locals had it [covered]."
"Well, we all know what happens when you assume," Yoes said. "Because of these assumptions and the cascade of failures that occurred at this event, an innocent man has died, and a former president was struck by gunfire."
"Which agency is responsible for security at the event?" he asked. "Which agency placed these buildings beyond the security perimeter?"
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Secret Service.
