Six Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect Donald Trump during a shooting incident at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024, are facing disciplinary actions. The punishments entailed 10- to 42-day unpaid suspensions and reassignment to restricted or non-operational roles. The agency, however, abstained from disclosing the names of those penalized. The shooting, which resulted in the death of a bystander and injuries to Trump, was described as an “operational failure” by the Secret Service.
In this incident, a lone gunman accessed a nearby rooftop and fired towards the former president, who was addressing the crowd. Following the attack, Trump criticized the Secret Service for not positioning an agent on the rooftop that day.
The Secret Service indicated that the incident is a stark reminder of their mission to prevent any such failures from occurring in the future. They have already implemented 21 of the 46 recommendations suggested by congressional oversight committees. Director Sean Curran has affirumered the agency’s commitment to avoiding a repeat of the incident.
Post the Pennsylvania incident, another security breach happened at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida, where Ryan Routh attempted to assassinate Trump while playing golf on September 15, 2024. Routh had been plotting this attack for weeks and was spotted by a Secret Service agent before he could open fire.
Recently, Routh has expressed his wish to drop his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself at trial, though he did not provide reasons for this decision. Judge Aileen Cannon has deferred her ruling on this request, and Routh’s trial is set to commence on September 9.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/11/six-secret-service-agents-suspended-over-trump-assassination-failings?traffic_source=rss
