Aug 23, 2024 10:34 PM IST
At least 5 Secret Service agents have been placed on leave nearly 6 weeks after a 20-yr-old gunman fired 8 rounds from a rooftop near where Trump was speaking.
Secret Service has placed at least five of its agents on administrative leave as part of its investigation into Donald Trump‘s assassination attempt. The probe follows the July 13 shooting at the former president’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Those placed on leave were four agents from the Pittsburgh Field Office, including the special agent in charge and one member of Trump’s personal security team.
Secret Service places multiple agents on leave in Trump’s assassination attempt probe
The administrative leave of multiple Secret Service agents comes nearly six weeks after a 20-year-old gunman fired eight rounds from a rooftop near where Trump was speaking. While it is unclear whether the leaves were part of a disciplinary action, the Secret Service’s internal affairs division is continuing with the probe.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the agency, denied confirming if the agents were placed on leave. However, he did reveal that the Secret Service’s “mission assurance review is progressing, and we are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure,” according to CBS News.
Guglielmi went on to say that the agency “holds our personnel to the highest professional standards, and any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility for potential disciplinary action.”
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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned just two weeks after the assassination attempt on Trump that left him with an ear wound. Cheatle left the agency after giving her initial testimony in front of Congress members, who ripped her with scathing questions about the agency’s inability to prevent the harrowing incident.
During last month’s shooting, Trump narrowly escaped a terrible outcome after a bullet grazed his ear. However, Pennsylvania father and firefighter Corey Comperatore was shot and killed last month, while two other spectators at the rally were left seriously injured.
