Trump team irate over Secret Service failing to warn them about Crooks after spotting him with a range finder
Former President Donald Trump took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, several minutes after the Secret Service first began tracking the former president’s attempted assassin, and Trump's team was none too happy about it.
Those in Trump’s orbit said the former president’s security detail became enraged after learning they were not told for 30 minutes about a suspicious subject carrying a range finder around the perimeter of Trump’s July 13 rally, according to the Washington Post. That suspicious subject turned out to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, the former president’s 20-year-old attempted assassin.
Trump took the stage in Butler shortly after 6 p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, local officers had first spotted Crooks between 5:45 p.m. and 5:55 p.m., the Washington Post's timeline of events indicates. Once spotted, local law enforcement verbally communicated the threat to Secret Service agents, but the threat was reportedly never shared with Trump's team. Trump's team was also reportedly never told that local law enforcement counter-snipers lost track of Crooks at one point.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Secret Service for comment but did not receive a response.
Anger from Trump’s team about the circumstances surrounding the July 13 Butler rally comes amid years of frustrations over the Secret Service’s failure to heed the Trump team’s repeated requests for additional counter-snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs, magnetometers and other security precautions at the former president’s rallies and residences, the Washington Post reported last week.
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In 2021, Trump’s Secret Service detail created an "Intrusion Detection Plan" to better secure the former president’s Mar-a-Lago golf club in South Florida, where other people seeking to harm Trump have been caught. However, when they asked for funds to implement the plan, the Secret Service only provided about 10% of the money that was requested, the Washington Post reported last week.
"They didn’t see it as their job to protect his club, but to protect him," a former Trump security official familiar with the request told the Washington Post. "But it could be hard to separate the two."
The Secret Service, meanwhile, told the Washington Post that the agency has "continuously invested in security enhancements" at the former president’s residences, but due to their policies on not disclosing operational tactics, would not discuss any specific funding numbers.
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Secret Service officials have countered the Trump camp’s complaints about a lack of precautions with claims that the agency has never been asked to provide so much security for a former president, according to reporting from the Washington Post. Officials also appeared to throw some of the blame on Trump himself, reportedly asserting that his team schedules events that are especially challenging to protect.
In the wake of the July 13 attempted assassination, the Secret Service has reportedly ramped up its security efforts for Trump. According to Trump advisers who spoke with the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, the former president’s security became as heavy after the assassination attempt as when he was president.
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Trump’s outdoor rallies now include bulletproof glass surrounding the former president, a request he demanded following the attempted assassination.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not receive a response by press time.