Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe pledged to right the agency and regain trust after the assassination attempt against former President Trump but acknowledged there would be significant difficulties in streamlining communication with the local law enforcement officers who help at events.
Rowe fielded questions from reporters Friday about numerous planning missteps that allowed a shooter to fire a series of bullets that pierced Trump’s ear, wounded two others and killed one attendee during a rally last month in Butler, Pa.
While shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was flagged as suspicious by local law enforcement working the event, Rowe reiterated that those warnings never reached Secret Service countersnipers or Trump’s personal detail.
“It was so apparent to me that in this incident, in the final 30 seconds which has been the focus of what happened before the assailant opened fire, there was clearly radio transmissions that may have happened on that local radio net that we did not have,” Rowe said.
“The interoperability challenge, it’s not an easy fix. It’s not as simple as just trying to figure out the local frequency of the agency you’re working with, and then typing that into your radio network. It requires a substantial technical fix.”
Rowe made the remarks in his first press conference since stepping into the lead role at the agency. He also made a Monday appearance before Congress in which Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) chastised the agency for failing to regularly update the public.
Rowe on Friday again offered a more candid assessment of the agency’s failures than his predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned last week after a disastrous tight-lipped appearance before the House.
He lamented that the agency failed to have personnel on the roof of the building from which Crooks fired and pledged to use drones at future events.
“This was a Secret Service failure. That roof line should have been covered. We should have had better eyes on that,” he said, noting that a failure to accept an offer from a local agency to fly a drone over the site is also being investigated.
“We are now going to leverage the use of unmanned aerial systems at sites now. So we are putting those assets out and, you know, we should have had better line of sight on some of those high ground concerns. We thought we might have had it covered with the human eye, but clearly we are going to change our approach now and we are going to leverage technology and put those unmanned aerial systems up.”
Rowe also said the Secret Service would now have countersnipers at every event rather than just relying on local law enforcement snipers.
The Trump campaign has said it wants to continue with outdoor rallies, a setup that comes with additional complications for the Secret Service.
“It’s a campaign season, right? Candidates want to be out there. … Whether it’s an indoor site or an outdoor site, it’s on the Secret Service to make sure that we create a secure environment. And listen, we identify challenges, we identify concerns and then it’s on us to figure out what we need to do to mitigate that. So if there are going to be future campaign rallies outside it — it’s going to be on us to make sure that we are providing all the assets and resources to make sure that those sites are indeed secure,” he said.
Rowe also sought to shift away any blame placed on local law enforcement personnel, who appeared to be aware of Crooks and working to relay that message to the Secret Service.
“I also want to reiterate this was a Secret Service failure, and so they should not be blamed. We’re not trying to shift blame to anybody. And that’s the important takeaway that we need our state local partners out there doing this with us every day,” he said.
Rowe said Crooks was able to fire three shots initially, with Trump’s personal detail jumping to cover him within three seconds. The next fourth through eighth shots were fired over the next few moments, with the director adding that a Secret Service countersniper killed Crooks within 15 seconds of his opening fire.
“It’s difficult for them. They feel like they let their colleagues down,” Rowe said of the Pittsburgh field office of the agency. “They feel like they let the country down. And they are wearing this, and it’s open. You can see it. It’s an open wound that they are carrying.”
“I want to make sure that they are uplifted so they can focus on carrying out the mission. They are worthy of trusting confidence, and they deserve your support,” he said of the broader Secret Service.
Rowe on Friday also resisted making any promises to firing agents involved in the planning or response, a position that irked many senators earlier in the week.
“I am committed to pursuing accountability for the Secret Service’s failure. Let me be clear … Those individuals will be held accountable, and they will be held accountable to our fair and thorough disciplinary process,” he said.
“The facts will drive the outcomes of those investigations and I promised accountability, and I will not rush to judgment or ignore due process. Every single person within the Secret Service feels the weight of what happened.”