The security failures that nearly cost Donald Trump his life two years ago during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, remain under scrutiny as later alleged assassination attempts keep presidential protection in the spotlight.
Trump was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after gunfire grazed his upper right ear during his July 13, 2024, rally in Butler. The attack came months before Trump's re-election and preceded a series of later alleged attempts against his life.
Two years ago Monday, Trump was mid-sentence, pointing to a chart on illegal immigration under the Biden administration, when gunshots pierced the air at his Butler rally. Authorities later identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired from the roof of a nearby building.
The gunman killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was shielding his family, and wounded two other men. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks during the attack.
A report from the Office of Inspector General, released earlier this month, found that the U.S. Secret Service "missed multiple opportunities" to prevent or disrupt the assassination attempt due to communication failures and other security lapses.
The report highlighted the Secret Service's overall lack of policy and processes, limited intelligence sharing, and poor collaboration and communication with protectee staff and state and local law enforcement as key factors that led to missing opportunities to prevent and detect the attempted assassination.
The report also found that the Secret Service failed to warn Trump's protective detail that Crooks had a rangefinder and a long gun and had climbed onto the roof of a nearby building.
Trump's security has remained under scrutiny since he returned to office, amid later alleged assassination attempts against his life. In September 2024, authorities said Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted him with a rifle near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in what federal prosecutors later charged as an attempted assassination of Trump.
There was another assassination attempt against Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in April of this year, where a shooter attempted to break into the ballroom. The renewed threats come amid escalating tensions with Iran, after the U.S. resumed strikes following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement.
Reports this week said Israeli intelligence warned U.S. officials about a new Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. Trump warned Iran Friday that the United States would "decimate and destroy" the country if Tehran carried out an assassination attempt against him.
The U.S. Secret Service has not directly commented on the reports, but the security failures of two years ago remain a concerning reminder of the ongoing threats to presidential protection.
