An independent panel investigating the July 13 assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump has released a scathing report on the Secret Service, calling the agency “bureaucratic, complacent and static.”

The panel, commissioned by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, criticized the agency’s “troubling lack of critical thinking,” which came during a gathering in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The shooter, Thomas Crooks, fired at Trump, grazing the former president’s ear and killing a man in the crowd, Corey Comperatore. They injured two others.

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What the independent panel says

The 51-page report, released Thursday, details that Secret Service agents failed to inform Trump’s security detail about Crooks, who had been identified as a potential threat more than 20 minutes before the shooting. According to the report, at least two Secret Service agents were aware of Crooks’ suspicious behavior but failed to communicate it effectively.

The panel, comprised of former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, former Acting Attorney General Mark Filip, former Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend and former U.S. Police Superintendent Maryland State’s David Mitchell noted a “troubling lack of critical thinking” on the part of Secret Service personnel before and after the attack.

The 51-page report also notes: “Courage and selflessness alone, no matter how honorable, are not enough to fulfill the Secret Service’s mission of unwavering protection. »

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How did the filming go?

The timeline of the event provided in the report revealed a series of missteps. Local law enforcement first spotted Crooks at 4:26 p.m. when he “sneaked” into a restricted area near a building called the AGR building, which had a direct line of sight to the scene of the rally.

However, the Secret Service did not become aware of Crooks’ presence until 5:44 p.m. Despite this, Crooks was not apprehended until 6:10 p.m., by which time he had already fired eight shots at Trump before being killed by a Secret Service agent. .

Additionally, drone detection technology intended to monitor the area encountered technical issues and was not deployed until 4:30 p.m. If it had worked, agents could have detected Crooks monitoring the gathering with his own drone. The panel noted that a “chaotic mix” of text messages, phone calls, radio communications and emails had caused confusion among law enforcement.

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At least nine members of the Secret Service were aware of Crooks’ suspicious activity, but none of this information reached Trump’s security detail, who could have delayed his appearance on stage until Crooks was located . The agency’s “do more with less” mindset and formal approach to security failed to account for the specific threats Trump faced.