Widow claims Secret Service has 'blood on its hands' over Trump rally failings
And now the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore - who was killed by a stray bullet in the attack in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024 - has launched a blistering attack on the agency for failing to protect him that day.
She told Fox News: 'We were all sitting ducks that day. Our blood is all over their hands! I'm angry. I lost the love of my life.'
Myosoty Perez was one of six agents suspended for between 10 and 42 days following the attack in Butler, Pennsylvania.
She was sent to the location of the rally ahead of time and was specifically tasked with helping to secure the surroundings, the New York Post revealed.
Shooter Thomas Crooks, 20, fired off eight shots from a nearby rooftop, narrowly missing Trump's vital organs and scraping his ear in a horrifying moment caught on live television.
Firefighter Comperatore was in the crowd and tragically killed by a stray bullet.
Helen questioned the Secret Service agents working that day, asking: 'Why weren't they paying attention? Why did they think that roof didn't need [to be] covered?'
'Why Butler? Why was that such a failure?'
Two other bystanders were injured before a sniper was able to shoot Crooks dead.
Former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who had been with the agency 28 years, resigned shortly after the failed assassination attempt amid furious calls for the department to be held to account.
According to the Post, an attorney representing several of the suspended agents, Larry Berger, said Perez had 'fully cooperated already through all the investigations into the matter.
'She is now deciding what the next steps will be in this situation,' he said.
He noted Perez was not in charge of overall security on the day of the rally.
Another agent who helped to coordinate security for the rally was also reportedly suspended, along with four people from the Pittsburgh field office.
The final suspension was reportedly an agent on the counter-sniper team.
A U.S. Secret Service report released just days before the 2024 election confirmed that 'multiple operational and communications gaps preceded the July 13 attempted assassination.'
The Secret Service also described some of the gaps as 'deficiency of established command and control, lapses in communication, and a lack of diligence by agency personnel,' while also noting that 'the accountability process [was] underway.'
Dan Bongino - who now serves as Deputy Director of the FBI and formerly spent 11 years as a Secret Service agent - said last year that Butler was an 'apocalyptic security failure' and called for a full house-cleaning of the upper leadership ranks in the Secret Services D.C. headquarters.
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