US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in a Interview Tuesday that the agency is “solely responsible” for planning and executing security at the rally in Pennsylvania where former President Trump was shot over the weekend.
“On that particular site, we have divided areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service is fully responsible for the design, implementation and execution of the site,” Cheatle told CNN’s Whitney Wild on Tuesday night.
His comment comes amid heightened scrutiny of the federal agency and its leadership after a gunman’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear, causing a bloody scene at a campaign event on Saturday. The assassination attempt was one of the biggest security lapses by the federal agency since former President Reagan was shot in 1981.
In recent days, questions have mounted about how a 20-year-old gunman was able to climb to a nearby rooftop and get a clear view of the former president at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle told Wild that no assets were diverted from the Trump rally that day.
Earlier Tuesday, the director of the Secret Service told ABC News in an interview that the building from which the suspected shooter shot the former president was the responsibility of local security.
“What I was trying to emphasize is that we just shared areas of responsibility, and they provided support to those areas of responsibility,” Cheatle said, clarifying his previous statements about local law enforcement, adding that the Secret Service “could not do our work without them.”
Cheatle also added that there were “safety factors” to consider when figuring out how to secure the building, noting that the building had a pitched roof, “so the decision was made to secure the building from the inside.”
“What happened is a terrible incident and should never happen,” she said. “And obviously we’re going to make sure that in the future we take whatever lessons come out of this and adjust accordingly.”
The director recalled that she received calls with “several employees” who were working at the rally and said she intends to talk to the rest of those involved.
“These are obviously difficult conversations. Everyone who works for the Secret Service never wants to have a day like this,” Cheatle said. “We did our job perfectly. The people who covered and evacuated the president that day, the counter sniper, did their job perfectly and I am very proud of the actions they took.”
Cheatle has faced calls to resign in recent days but has vowed to remain in the role.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
