DHS: Secret Service Failed Trump at Butler

The Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to stop the attempted assassination of then-candidate Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a scathing new Department of Homeland Security inspector general report.

The 64-page report concluded the agency failed to detect, prevent, and disrupt gunman Thomas Crooks before he opened fire on July 13, 2024, citing breakdowns in communications, intelligence sharing, site security and counter-drone operations.

"The Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to detect, prevent, and disrupt" the attack, the IG found, while blaming the failures on poor policies, inadequate coordination and insufficient collaboration with state and local law enforcement. 

Among the report's most striking findings was that the Secret Service failed to receive 102 radio transmissions from local law enforcement warning about Crooks because it never established a joint communications room with officers securing the event. ---More...

The Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to stop the attempted assassination of then-candidate Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a scathing new Department of Homeland Security report. MORE: https://t.co/6mRWLRFPGq pic.twitter.com/1lNM8XNpEa

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX)July 3, 2026