Former Secret Service agent-turned-conservative radio host and author Dan Bongino made some interesting observations following the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump during a Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
Bongino criticized the Secret Service for an “absolutely catastrophic” failure during Trump’s rally, suggesting that the former president’s decision to duck was lifesaving. He told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Sunday,” “The bunting around the front of the stage is probably armor. Donald Trump knew to duck. I mean, most people would. He saved his own life.
Authorities have identified the 20-year-old shooter, who was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper team shortly after he fired in the direction of Trump, nipping the former president’s right ear and killing a rally attendee while wounding two others.
Bongino, who served in the Secret Service from 1999 to 2011, criticized the protective agency for the security failures that occurred. If that’s the best technology we have, and we had a CS [Counter Sniper] team up there — we’re trained out to 1,000 yards in the Secret Service with the counter sniper team — how did they miss someone, at most 1/5 of the way there? It doesn’t make any sense,” he pondered. Even worse, it’s broad daylight on a white roof.
He also riffed on the manner in which Trump was evacuated. The evacuation did not go right,” he said. The rule with the Secret Service is cover the protectee and evacuate.” He did, however, commend the agents who were with Trump.
Bongino also disputed the Secret Service’s denial that Trump’s team requested extra security and resources but were turned down by the agency. I can tell you, and absolutely confirm from the horse’s mouth, from multiple people, not just one…there have been repeated requests [to] increase the security footprint,” he said.
Bongino also reiterated many of the complaints from conservatives about the Secret Service’s priorities, suggesting it had become distracted by irrelevant issues. They were more concerned about the color of the Secret Service agents ties around Donald Trump, given the perception,” he said, noting fear that a red tie could suggest an agent had MAGA and Trump sympathies.
He also expressed conservative concerns about the agency’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program, which has attracted attention from congressional Republicans, the New York Post noted. You have one job, and only one job. Your job is [to] keep the body alive. No matter what,” he said. And the fact that Donald Trump didn’t die yesterday is no reason for anybody to take some kind of victory lap.
One rally attendee, Greg Smith, told the BBC shortly after the shooting that he saw a man with a rifle crawling on a rooftop near the rally venue just minutes before shots were fired. We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away from us,” Smith recounted, Newsweek reported. He had a rifle; we could clearly see a rifle.” Smith described what he believed was a chaotic situation with poor coordination among security staff and police as he tried to alert them to an impending threat. Videos that have since gone viral on social media show the alleged sniper on the rooftop, with rally attendees audibly trying to draw police attention to him.
