WASHINGTON: The U.S. Secret Service did not receive 102 local radio transmissions about a gunman who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a government watchdog report released on Thursday.According to the DHS inspector general’s report, the agency was unaware of the July 13, 2024, transmission because it failed to establish a joint communications room with local law enforcement that was receiving reports of a search of a suspicious person later identified as Thomas Crooks. “Instead, we found that the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks,” the report states. “As a result, Secret Service agents did not alert President Trump’s protective staff to concerns about suspicious persons.”Recommendations in the inspector general’s report cover areas such as information sharing and addressing “line of sight vulnerabilities” before incidents occur. The Secret Service said it agreed with the inspector general’s recommendations. “Many of these recommendations have been identified… and have been implemented as part of our reform efforts,” a spokesman said.(This is a Reuters report)
