Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said on Friday the agency takes full responsibility for the tragic events at former President Donald Trump’s rally last month, pledging changes such as flying drones.
“This was a mission failure,” said Rowe at a press conference in Washington.
Rowe replaced Kimberly Cheatle as director of the Secret Service amid intense scrutiny after she resigned in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump, which saw one rallygoer killed and two more injured in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was struck at the tip of his ear by a bullet fired by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks while he spoke at a campaign rally. Crooks, who fired several bullets, was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
But agents should have had eyes on the roofs and other vantage points, Rowe said. And despite offers by local enforcement to fly drones, the Secret Service didn’t put one up.
That will change, Rowe said.
Hellbound and Down 