By Zoe Tillman, Alicia Diaz and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg News

The U.S. Secret Service is facing harsh public scrutiny and investigations as the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump thrusts an agency with a checkered past into the center of a political firestorm.

Since Saturday’s shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump allies have blasted the agency over its protection of the former president. Security concerns are particularly acute as thousands descend on Milwaukee for the start of the Republican National Convention on Monday.

Although the Secret Service, a unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, provides round-the-clock security to former presidents, Trump’s appearances at mega rallies have posed unique challenges. Some critics have claimed the agency rejected requests from the former president’s team for more protection — a charge that the agency called “absolutely false.”

“There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who leads the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 14: Law Enforcement Officers from Palm Beach hang out in the Fiserv Forum Plaza ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Law enforcement officials began final preparations on the eve of RNC where Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is expected to formally receive the GOP nomination for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. Trump suffered minor injuries during a campaign rally on on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania after a gunman opened fired killing one person and injuring two critically. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

American law enforcement agencies have labeled Saturday’s shooting as an assassination attempt and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe.

Trump suffered a gunshot wound on his right ear, but his campaign said he was “fine.” Trump said he’ll head to Milwaukee for the convention, where’s he poised to be named the Republican candidate for November’s election.

The alleged shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by the Secret Service. A bystander was killed and two others who were critically injured.

Eyewitnesses in media interviews described a chaotic scene as shots rang out. Claims by some at the rally that they tried to warn officers are also fueling scrutiny.

In one interview, a bystander told the BBC that before the shooting he and other individuals saw a man crawling up the roof with a rifle and tried to alert law enforcement authorities.

‘Every resource’

Mike Turner, who chairs the House Intelligence committee, said on CNN on Sunday said he was alarmed by the eyewitness statements.

“The fact that we’re hearing that people knew that there was a man on this roof with a gun, and were trying to get police attention while the president was up at the podium is just incredibly cause for concern and, I think, very frustrating for everyone,” said Turner, an Ohio Republican.

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What to know about the attempt on Trump’s life and its aftermath

In a statement, the Secret Service said that the former president, as well as President Joe Biden, is often subjected to threats, which the agency takes seriously. The agency added that it “is constantly evaluating the very dynamic threat environment and responding to it in the fulfillment of its responsibilities.”

“The assertion that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false,” the agency said. “In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail.”

Secret Service RNC national coordinator Audrey Gibson-Cicchino told reporters on Sunday that the agency was working with law enforcement officers from across the state and country for convention.

“We are confident in the security plans that are in place for this event,” Gibson-Cicchino said.

Meanwhile, Biden said Sunday that he’s consistently directed the Secret Service to provide Trump with “every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.” He also said he’s directed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to review all security measures for the Republican convention. He said that there will also be an independent review of the security at Saturday’s rally.

Later on Sunday, Biden again condemned the attack. “We cannot, we must not, go down this road in America. There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever, period. No exceptions,” the president said in an address from the White House.

Different threats

Chad Wolf, who was acting head of DHS during part of the Trump presidency, said investigators must assess whether apparent lapses in security stemmed from a systemic failure or the actions of individuals. He also said that lawmakers and others with oversight of the Secret Service should weigh whether to give more protection to Trump.

“The threats aren’t the same, the profile’s not the same, nothing’s the same about it,” he said.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The incident has also focused attention on how well local, state and federal law enforcement agencies communicated before the shooting and as it unfolded. The coordination between various agencies is key to the security plan for the RNC convention in Milwaukee and the Democratic convention next month in Chicago.

John Cohen, the former acting undersecretary of intelligence and counterterrorism for DHS, said that the shooting raised questions about whether there was any warning of the attack among law enforcement agencies.

“We are going to have to dramatically expand the intelligence sharing and the reaction to intelligence by law enforcement,” Cohen said during a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

Big events

Todd Lamb, a former Secret Service agent, told Bloomberg News in an interview that security is especially challenging at large campaign rallies like the ones Trump frequently holds.

Campaigns want candidates “as close to the people as possible, pressing the flesh,” said Lamb. “Well, the Secret Service knows that you can’t keep the candidate in a bubble, but the Secret Service wants less pressing of the flesh, less interacting.”

Regardless of the circumstances, blame is already being trained on Cheatle. Even as the FBI continues to investigate the incident, Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from her and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“DHS responds to congressional inquiries directly via official channels, and the department will continue to respond appropriately to congressional oversight,” the agency said in a statement.

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 13: Campaign signs and empty water bottles are seen on the ground of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. According to Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, the suspected gunman is dead after injuring former President Trump, killing one audience member and injuring at least one other. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Former Secret Service agent Mindy Pretzman, who also served under multiple administrations, told Bloomberg News in an email that the agency will have to share information with the FBI, as the investigating agency, as well as Congress “about what resources were requested, approved, and implemented, whether the assets were adequate, and whether they responded as intended.”

“There is no one-size-fits-all application to physical security,” said Pretzman. “If anything is one-size-fits-all in the physical security space, it is training for preparedness.”

FBI officials told reporters on Sunday that they were immediately focused on investigating the shooting itself, and not how the event was secured, but that eventually there would be a full probe to reconstruct a timeline of what happened and how.

Prior controversies

The Secret Service has navigated controversies and questions about its performance before. In 2012, agents were implicated in a prostitution scandal in Colombia while they were preparing for a visit by then-President Barack Obama.

There have been multiple breaches of the White House complex over the years. In 2014, an armed intruder jumped over a fence and was able to enter the building before being stopped. In 2017, another fence jumper walked around the grounds for 17 minutes while Trump was inside the residence. Most recently, the agency faced questions about its response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

There were 33 core protectees last year, according to the agency’s most recent annual report. The agency also provides as-needed protection for visiting foreign heads of state and for “events of national significance.”

During a presidential election cycle, the Secret Service also protects the “major” candidates and their families. The Secretary of Homeland Security and a bipartisan advisory committee of Congressional leaders determine who qualifies for that protection, under federal law.

Cheatle has led the Secret Service since September 2022. She previously served in the agency for more than 25 years, including as a member of Biden’s security detail when he was vice president under Obama. Most recently, she was senior director in global security at PepsiCo Inc.

With assistance from Ellen M. Gilmer, Nick Wadhams, Alex Newman, Dave Merrill, Akayla Gardner and Justin Sink.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press

The FBI is still trying to determine a motive behind Saturday’s attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump, while the tone of this week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee likely will be dominated by the violence.

A former fire chief who was killed at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally is being remembered as a “man of conviction.”

The shooting wounded two other men and pierced the upper part of Trumps’ ear with a bullet. The 20-year-old who authorities say carried out the attack is believed to have acted alone with his father’s gun.

Here’s a look at what we know so far about the attempt on Trump’s life and its aftermath:

Acting strangely outside the event

Officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the shooting — first came to law enforcement’s attention when spectators at the Trump rally noticed him acting strangely outside the event. Specifically, he was pacing near the magnetometers, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

The gunman made it to a nearby roof with an AR-style rifle and a local law enforcement officer climbed to the roof and found Crooks, who pointed the rifle at the officer, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told The Associated Press. The officer retreated down the ladder, and the gunman quickly fired toward Trump.

Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the gunfire began.

As the first pop went off Trump said, “Oh,” then raised his hand to his right ear and looked at it before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern.

Someone could be heard near the microphone saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents rushed to the stage. They piled atop the former president to shield him with their bodies as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the threat.

U.S. Secret Service gunmen shot the gunman, officials said.

Trump later said the upper part of his right ear was pierced by a bullet. His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. He arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday evening for the convention, which begins Monday.

A loner whose motive remains unknown

Investigators are hunting for clues and the absence of any clear ideological motive so far has led conspiracy theories to flourish.

The FBI said it believes Crooks acted alone. Investigators have found no threatening comments on social media accounts or ideological positions that could help explain what led him to target Trump.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. An FBI official told reporters that Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators.

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Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Biden was sworn into office.

Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunchtime. Other students mocked him for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, Kohler said.

“He was just a outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays,” Kohler told reporters.

Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation. Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, said in a statement she was “shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement.” Grimm added that Crooks had a clean background check when he was hired.

Authorities probe shooting as potential domestic terrorism

The FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism and questions abounded about how the gunman got so close in the first place.

Kevin Rojek, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said “it is surprising” the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him.

Bomb-making materials were found inside both Crooks’ vehicle and at his home, officials said. The FBI described the devices as “rudimentary.”

Ex-fire chief who was killed was a “man of conviction”

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday said the man killed at the Trump rally, Corey Comperatore, “dove on his family to protect them.”

“Corey died a hero,” the governor said. Comperatore, 50, was a former fire chief.

Pennsylvania State Police identified two other men who were shot as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township. Both men remained hospitalized and were listed in stable condition, state police said.

Comperatore’s quick decision to use his body as a shield against the bullets flying toward his wife and daughter rang true to the close friends and neighbors who loved and respected the proud 50-year-old Trump supporter, noting that the Butler County resident was a “man of conviction.”

“He’s a literal hero. He shoved his family out of the way, and he got killed for them,” said Mike Morehouse, who lived next to Comperatore for the last eight years. “He’s a hero that I was happy to have as a neighbor.”

Randy Reamer, president of the Buffalo Township volunteer fire company, called Comperatore “a stand-up guy” and “a true brother of the fire service.” He said Comperatore served as chief of the company for about three years but was also a life member, meaning he had served for more than 20 years.

“Just a great all-around guy, always willing to help someone out,” Reamer said of Comperatore. “He definitely stood up for what he believed in, never backed down to anyone. … He was a really good guy.”

Trump arrives in Milwaukee as RNC goes on

The Republican National Convention starts Monday, with Trump and his advisers pledging resilience in the face of the attack. The four-day event will showcase the former president and his platform as his party formally chooses him to be its nominee.

It was not immediately clear if and how Saturday’s attack would alter the convention, which normally has a celebratory atmosphere. Republican officials have said they want to defy the threat Trump has faced and stick to their plans and their schedule. But at the very least, the event is expected to include a heightened focus on security and a grim recognition of how stunningly close Trump came to losing his life.

The presumptive Republican nominee and his allies will face the nation unquestionably united and ready to “fight,” as the bloodied Trump cried out Saturday while Secret Service agents at his Pennsylvania rally rushed him to safety.

Anger and anxiety are coursing through the party, even as many top Republicans call for calm and a lowering of tensions. As elected officials, politicians and a few regular Americans address the conference, the question is which tone will prevail in the aftermath of the attack: Will it make speeches even more fiery or will calls for calm prevail?

On a sweltering weekend evening, beneath a clear blue sky, Donald Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again” hats packed the fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania.

It was a friendly and festive venue for the once and maybe future president’s final rally before the Republican National Convention the following week. He won Butler County, just north of Pittsburgh in the crucial swing state, by roughly 2 to 1 in both 2016 and 2020.

“God Bless the U.S.A.” boomed over a speaker — “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free” — as Trump arrived wearing his own red MAGA hat. He stood before a row of gold-trimmed American flags. He waved, clapped and pointed to his fans, their cell phones held aloft to record him. The peaks of white tents rose near the red, white and blue-striped grandstands. A green farm combine sat to one side of the rally.

To retired emergency room doctor James Sweetland, it felt like “an old-time rock concert.” As they awaited Trump’s appearance, Sweetland helped a fellow attendee who was suffering in the day’s heat, advising her to lie down and giving her water until emergency crews arrived. At the time, he said, it felt like the worst that could happen.

Joleen Monteleone, 57, of Butler, was in the bleachers behind Trump, wearing a “Trump 2024” denim vest that her husband made. Kristen Petrarca, 60, was there, too. “I’d never been to a rally,” she said, “and I really wanted to just experience it.”

The former president climbed three steps to the stage, basking in applause and chants of “USA!” before delivering a familiar litany of grievances against the news media, President Joe Biden and immigrants living in the country illegally. He reiterated his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

He pointed to a large video screen depicting statistics on border crossings. Sweetland was sitting near the foot of the screen and felt like Trump was looking right at him.

In the seconds that followed came chaos.

Confusion, then panic

Less than 200 yards away, unknown to Sweetland or Trump, another scene was playing out.

Some rally-goers had noticed a man climbing to the roof of a nearby building. A local police officer climbed up after the man, but retreated back down the ladder when the man pointed his gun at the officer, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss an ongoing investigation.

Then: shots. Confusion. Disorder.

Trump grabbed his right ear. He ducked. A cluster of Secret Service agents in dark suits piled atop him, ready to take a bullet. More shots.

“Get down!” some rally-goers shouted as others ducked. Still others tried to keep their cell phone cameras pointed at the chaos onstage.

“Everybody was just like screaming and trying to hide in between the bleachers,” Petrarca recalled. “And I’m literally being pushed down, in between the bleachers, where your feet would be.”

Trump’s microphone picked up the urgent chatter of the Secret Service agents.

“I got you, sir! I got you!”

“Shooter’s down.”

“We’re clear, we’re clear.”

“Let’s move!”

The agents helped lift him to his feet, his hat knocked off and his hair mussed. They continued surrounding him. As they began to usher him off the stage, Trump paused. He wanted to get his shoes. Then he paused again.

“Wait!” he shouted. “Wait, wait, wait.”

With blood covering his ear and streaking across his face in two rivulets that converged on his tightly pressed lips, he looked out past the agents to the stunned but adoring crowd — and pumped his fist. Even in the middle of the shocking attempt on his life, the former reality TV star’s instincts for showmanship and symbolism did not fail him.

“Fight!” he mouthed. “Fight! Fight!”

The agents moved him into a black SUV. All around him, his supporters erupted in chants.

“USA! USA!”

A jumbled aftermath

The Secret Service said its snipers had killed the gunman after the assassination attempt. But even now, two days later, the attacker’s motives and actions in the hours before the shooting are unclear.

His name was Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a nursing home employee from the suburbs south of Pittsburgh. He’d been armed with an AR-15 that his dad bought.

Crooks did not kill Donald Trump. But in those moments, another life was lost.

Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief who had served for decades with the Buffalo Township volunteer fire company, was in a section of bleachers just to Trump’s right. At the pops of gunshots, he dove to cover his wife and daughter. A bullet struck his head.

When Sweetland, the retired ER doctor, heard calls for help nearby, his muscle memory kicked in. He rushed to the grievously wounded Comperatore and performed CPR as blood seeped from a hole above the man’s right ear. Two minutes into his efforts, state troopers tapped him on the shoulder, took over, and then picked Comperatore up “like a rag doll” and carried him off on a stretcher.

“I looked up and I saw what I assumed would be his wife and a daughter that were there, and the look on their face was something I’ll never forget,” said Sweetland, who is from a town called DuBois about 90 minutes away. “The look on their faces, they were appalled, they were sad. And the look on everybody’s face in this situation is, ‘Is he gonna be alright?’

“And all I could blurt out was, ‘They’re taking him to where he can get help.’”

Rico Elmore, vice chairman of the Republican Party in neighboring Beaver County, also heard the cries for help. He removed his tie and rushed over a barricade toward the wounded man. He held the man’s head with a towel.

Later, in an interview with The Associated Press, Elmore pulled a red T-shirt over his white shirt, which was stained with the victim’s blood. “It was a horror,” Elmore said. “I pray to the family that had to deal with this that is going through this now. Because it is hard. It is so hard.”

At least two other people were wounded: David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, both towns outside Pittsburgh. Each man was listed in stable condition Sunday.

Monteleone, who wore the “Trump 2024” denim vest that her husband made, said the ordeal and Trump’s fist pumps only made her “more MAGA, more pro-America than ever.”

“We were not scared. We were angry,” Monteleone said. “And we will not surrender. We will vote for him. We will support him. He is a strong leader, and that’s what America needs.”

As Trump was spirited away, many rally-goers directed that anger toward the journalists documenting the rally, shouting obscenities and extending their middle fingers. “Are you happy?” some yelled.

And Sweetland? A day afer the shooting, his shock had turned to anger.

“I just hope and pray everybody takes a step back, a deep breath, lowers their temperature and stops all this vitriolic comments that are being made,” he said. “This is not the United States I know and love, and I love this country dearly.”

___

Associated Press reporters Carolyn Thompson, Stefanie Dazio, Colleen Long and Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.

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