US Secret Service suspends six agents over Trump assassination attempt

Straits Times

11-07-2025

Mr Donald Trump rushed off stage by Secret Service agents after being shot at during a presidential campaign rally n Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
WASHINGTON – The Secret Service said on July 10 that it was suspending six agents involved in securing the site of a campaign rally where
a gunman tried to assassinate Mr Donald Trump in the summer of 2024.
The suspensions range from 10 to 42 days, without pay, the agency said in a statement just days before the anniversary of the shooting. It did not give a sense of timing for the suspensions or name the agents, citing privacy law. All six had been placed on restricted duty after the rally while the agency conducted an internal review.
The Secret Service came under intense scrutiny after a 20-year-old gunman was able to
fire several shots at Mr Trump while he spoke onstage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. A volunteer firefighter in the crowd that day, Mr Corey Comperatore, was killed and two other attendees were injured. The gunman was killed by the Secret Service.
It was the first assassination attempt since 1981 to wound a current or former president – a bullet grazed Mr Trump's ear. There were immediate demands for changes at the Secret Service, and the agency's competency was called into question.
Multiple inquiries into the failures, including from Congress, came to similar conclusions and led to dozens of recommendations to change systemic problems. In the midst of the scrutiny, there was a second attempt on Mr Trump's life. While Mr Trump golfed in Florida in September,
agents shot at a suspect who was hiding near the outer edge of the course.
But the sense of urgency to address the issues at the Secret Service dissipated after Election Day. The lawmakers who demanded accountability and changes have said very little publicly about the agency since Mr Trump returned to the Oval Office.
Former senior officials at the Secret Service were privately critical that the punishments were not severe enough. And the announcement revived deep internal frustrations that the blame for the failures at the Butler rally fell largely on agents who worked in its Pittsburgh office and not the senior agents on Mr Trump's personal detail.
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A young junior agent who was on Mr Trump's personal detail at the time received the longest suspension, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorised to discuss personnel matters. That agent is also the only member of Mr Trump's personal detail to receive a suspension.
In a statement on July 10, the agency's director, Mr Sean Curran, reflected on the events in Butler and the organisational changes underway at the agency that he said were happening behind the scenes.
'I have kept my experience on July 13 top of mind, and the agency has taken many steps to ensure such an event can never be repeated in the future,' Mr Curran said.
At the time of the Butler shooting, Mr Curran was the lead agent on Mr Trump's personal security detail and one of the agents who lunged to Mr Trump's side to shelter him after shots were fired. In January, Mr Trump made him the agency's director.
The agency on July 10 said that nearly half of the 46 congressional recommendations it received were already in place; 16 were in progress; and nine were handed off to 'non-Secret Service stakeholders'.
One of the changes the agency noted it had implemented was a new policy to ensure that agents understand who is in charge of security operations for events like the campaign rally in Butler.
A glaring failure identified in the spate of reviews was a lack of accountability and blurred lines about who was in charge that day. Security for the event was a joint responsibility between Trump's personal security detail and agents in the Secret Service's Pittsburgh field office. Reviews found that agents did not adequately communicate with one another or with the local law enforcement officials who helped support the operation.
Another recommendation was to make significant changes in leadership at the Secret Service. The reviews pointed to problems with hiring and retention that go back decades, and the agency was in need of a fresh group of leaders, including some from the private sector.
The agency's director at the time, Ms Kimberly Cheatle, resigned shortly after the Butler shooting. Her deputy, Mr Ronald Rowe, became the acting head of the agency. He left earlier in 2025.
In addition to Mr Curran, there have been other changes at the top. Mr Curran brought back two former agents to fill leadership positions, Mr Tyler McQuiston as his chief of staff and Mr Matthew Quinn to be the deputy director. Mr Richard Giuditta Jr, a private business lawyer, is now the agency's chief counsel.
Current and former agents have questioned whether Mr Curran and his team have the experience to run the Secret Service. Mr Curran, Mr McQuiston and Mr Quinn have not held senior positions at the agency's headquarters, as has been the common path for previous directors and top officials. And Mr Giuditta has no experience working with a large law enforcement agency.
The lengths of the punishments announced on July 10 were shorter than what the agency initially proposed, according to one of the lawyers representing several of the agents.
'We navigated successfully to avoid more severe sanctions,' said Mr Larry Berger, the lawyer. 'And now we're assessing what the next step is.'
The agents are allowed to appeal the punishments. NYTIMES