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The House Task Force’s final report on the attempted assassinations of Donald Trump reveals a disturbing pattern of failures within the Secret Service. The first assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024, was largely attributed to breakdowns in communication and unity of command, and inadequate planning. The report suggests that while no single failure led to the attack, a series of missteps allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to fire off shots at Trump, one of which struck his ear.

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The Task Force found that the tragic and shocking events in Butler, Pennsylvania were preventable and should not have happened. There was not, however, a singular moment or decision that allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to nearly assassinate the former President. The various failures in planning, execution, and leadership on and before July 13, 2024, and the preexisting conditions that undermined the effectiveness of the human and material assets deployed that day, coalesced to create an environment in which the former President—and everyone at the campaign event—were exposed to grave danger. Conversely, the events that transpired on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination.

In contrast, the Sept. 15, 2024, incident in West Palm Beach was successfully thwarted due to better protective measures. But was still full of failures. The report highlights significant concerns regarding timing. Despite Trump’s golf schedule being made available at 2:30 a.m., the first security sweep of the area didn’t occur until hours later, at 1:30 p.m., after Trump had already been on the course for hours.

Although the Secret Service was notified at approximately 2:30 a.m. on September 15 that former President Trump intended to golf at approximately 12:30 p.m. that day, former President Trump made a last-minute request to leave for Trump International Golf Club just after 11:00 a.m., moving his anticipated arrival time up by an hour.

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“The agent first noticed the suspect, later identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, and then noticed the barrel of Routh’s gun sticking through the fence line,” the report states. “The special agent, who may have been as close as five feet away from Routh, immediately responded by firing shots toward the suspect. It is believed six shots in total were fired; however, final ballistics are pending an ongoing FBI investigation.”

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Think about that for a second. We know that Routh escaped from the site and was later apprehended. Yet a trained Secret Service agent was mere feet away and missed as many as six shots. This raises serious questions about the agents’ preparedness and training. The ambiguity surrounding the number of rounds fired and the failure to track ammunition further compounds the criticism. Overall, the report paints a picture of a complacent, disorganized Secret Service, underscoring the need for better planning, leadership, and execution. 

But one of the most disturbing details from the report is certainly that the agent who discovered Routh fired six rounds from a distance of five feet and failed to hit the target even once. How is that even possible? I’m not a trained agent, and I’m sure I could have hit that target at least once with that many shots at such close range. This is a whole new level of incompetence that simply cannot be comprehended. 

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