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Author: Cheng Cheng of First Financial
Former U.S. President and Republican Trump was shot at a campaign rally on the evening of July 13 local time.
Although the gunman, 20-year-old white male Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead on the spot, how he climbed to the roof of a building that was only about 150 meters from the rallying podium?This has raised doubts from government officials and the public about the U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for the security of presidential candidates.
US President Biden said on the 14th that he had instructed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to “conduct an independent review of national security at yesterday’s rally.”
Law enforcement sources said it will review whether the Secret Service has enough manpower and material resources to provide protection to Trump before he officially becomes the Republican presidential candidate and whether the Secret Service has conducted a safety inspection of the building where the shooting was located as per procedure.
Rumors have been said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly refused to provide Trump with stronger Secret Service protection.In response, US Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied this statement on social media X, saying: “This is absolutely wrong. In fact, as the pace of campaigns accelerates, we have added protection.Resources, technology and capabilities.”
Nevertheless, the House Oversight Committee, led by the Republican Party, also said it would subpoena Chitel to attend the hearing and testify on July 22.
So what kind of organization is the Secret Service, which is the target of public criticism?How does it protect American politicians?
Assassination cases provoke U.S. Secret Service restructuring
Nine presidents in American history were assassinated, of which 4 were killed.It can be said that the development of the US Secret Service is closely related to the history of the assassination of the US president and his candidates.
According to the Secret Service official website, the agency was established in 1865 and was affiliated with the U.S. Treasury Department, which was responsible for combating the circulation of a large number of fake currencies in the U.S. market.
However, with the 25th President McKinley in 1901 being shot while attending the Pan American Expo, the Secret Service was given a second mission by Congress for the first time: to protect the president.At that time, only two men were assigned full-time responsibility for the White House Secret Service.
In 1950, President Truman was shot by Puerto Rican nationalists across the White House.Affected by this, Congress enacted a bill the following year to permanently authorize the Secret Service to protect the president, immediate family members of the president, elected president and vice president (i.e. candidates who have won the election but have not yet taken office).
The Former Presidents Act promulgated in 1958 stipulates that starting from 1965, the former president and his spouse and children under the age of 16 have the right to lifelong protection.Although the Clinton administration shortened the former president’s lifetime protection period to a decade after leaving office on the grounds of spending cuts, Obama subsequently lifted the restrictions and restored the former president’s lifetime protection system.
The main presidential and vice presidential candidates were included in the Secret Service protection area, which began in 1968 and was affected by the assassination of presidential candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
After the September 11 incident in 2001, the U.S. government established a new Department of Homeland Security, and the Secret Service changed it to the department’s jurisdiction.
At present, the Secret Service’s main responsibilities are divided into two parts: “investigation” and “protect”: part is to protect the U.S. national financial infrastructure and payment system, and the other is to protect national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated locations andNational special security incident.
The employees responsible for the protection work are mainly divided into the Special Agents responsible for protecting the president and other dignitaries, and the Uniformed Division responsible for the security of the buildings and other spaces where the dignitaries are located. In addition, a small number of employees are responsible for the responsibility of the responsible persons.Administration, professionalism and technology.
According to the US Secret Service’s 2023 annual report, nearly 7,800 people are currently working for it, including more than 3,600 agents and more than 1,600 dressed police officers.
How does the Secret Service protect the president and the former president?
The Secret Service protects the president 24 hours a day, even when the president undergoes a physical examination or goes to the bathroom.
For example, Dan Emmett, a former US Secret Service employee who directly protected three presidents of Bush, Clinton and Bush, wrote in his memoir that because Clinton likes to run in the downtown area during morning rush hour, the Secret Service needs it every time.Arrange 4 agents and 1 boss, who need to have the endurance to run with Clinton and retain enough physical strength to deal with the emergency.
The food the president eats is prepared under the supervision of the Secret Service.When the president checks in the hotel, the Secret Service will conduct background checks on hotel employees. Those with criminal records are not allowed to go to work during the president’s stay. In addition, the Secret Service will also arrange for an elevator mechanic to stand by in case the president is trapped.
When the president travels, the Secret Service usually sends a advance team to evaluate the event location and develop a safety plan before the event.For example, agents will perform physical measurements of the area, determine the required personnel, and work with the counter-sniper to check nearby buildings and their distance from the location of the president or presidential candidate.In addition, when arranging the route, the Secret Service needs to ensure that the route is no more than 10 minutes away from the trauma treatment center and carry the president’s blood bag with you in case of emergency.
For former presidents who have already ended their term, the Secret Service’s security may be weakened, but it should not be taken lightly.
Reporter and White House writer Ronald Kessler said that when Bush stepped down, he was under great threat, with about 75 agents taking turns to protect him and his wife Laura.
“Often the former president who recently left office will usually have four agents accompanying him when he goes out,” Kessler said.”The protection is 24 hours, and (agents) require three shifts and rest days, so the total number of agents is very large.”
But unlike the mandatory protection imposed on the president, the former president has the right to refuse protection.For example, in 1985, former President Nixon canceled lifelong protection and then hired private bodyguards, which also made him the first and only former president to cancel the Secret Service protection.
Is Trump an “outlier” in the history of the Secret Service?
Trump’s situation seems different.
Former Secret Service Agent Tim Miller said, “Bush Jr. went to the ranch and his father went to Kennebunkport. Since then, their lives have been relatively unknown. Former President TelThis is not the case with Trump. “He said Trump is an “outlier” in the Secret Service history because he is not only a former president, but also a current presidential candidate.
According to media reports, local police will assist the Secret Service in most of Trump’s campaigns to ensure the safety of the venue.Agents from other departments of the Department of Homeland Security such as the Transportation Security Administration will occasionally provide assistance.
Before the event begins, agents check the venue for bombs or other threats, and the Secret Service usually blocks the entrance several hours before Trump begins his speech.Law enforcement officers usually set obstacles as cordons.Participants can only enter the venue with small packets and pass through metal detectors.
At the rally where Trump was attacked, there was no police force in the building where the gunman was located, and the building was outside the security cordon.Media reports said witnesses had warned nearby police that he saw a gunman climbing onto the roof, but the police “didn’t know what happened” and did not take immediate measures.
“The Secret Service has designated the roof as the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement department,” said Richard Goldinger, Butler County District Attorney, said, “They (Secret Service and local law enforcement departments.”) The meeting was held the week before. The Secret Service was responsible for arranging everything and specifying who did what. “
“At the command level, they are the highest and number one person,” Goldinger said.
The Secret Service’s Dilemma
There have been multiple scandals in the Secret Service in recent years, raising concerns about its protection mission.
In 2012, during the then President Omaba attended the Colombian America Summit, at least 11 Secret Service agents, including snipers and bomb disposal experts, were suspected of calling prostitutes after drinking. In 2014, an injured veteran jumped over the White House fence and circled around.More than dozens of armed Secret Service officials entered the White House; in 2021, an agent commented on social media, accusing the treason of the lawmaker who officially announced Biden’s victory…
A 2021 study by the National Academy of Administration (NAPA) showed that the work satisfaction and employee engagement of the police department in uniforms guarding the White House was at a “worrying risk level.”“For most officials, long, repetitive work has become a chore and many of the officials encountered in this study face burnout,” the report said.
But in other ways, the Secret Service doesn’t seem to have had much obstacles.
Although the Secret Service’s funds for Protective Operations are often varied significantly, i.e., it will surge in every presidential election year and fall the following year, it is undeniable that this year the Secret Service has mastered the highest amount of disposable ever.——The Secret Service’s total budget in fiscal 2024 was US$3.28 billion, an increase of 6.1% from the actual expenditure last year.
Specifically, the department’s budget for protection operations this year is US$1.38 billion, an increase of 18.9% from the actual spending last year.Among them, the budget for “presidential election” and “national special security incidents” this year is about US$210 million, while in 2020, the actual cost of this project is less than US$160 million.
In terms of workload, in fiscal 2023, the Secret Service was responsible for protecting 33 people, including the president and vice president, and supported them more than 5,200 domestic and international visits, a figure that fell 18.8% from the pre-epidemic level in 2019.
Anthony Cangelosi, a former Secret Service agent who was responsible for protecting presidential candidates, said about Trump’s attack, “I don’t like to make any assumptions, but look at it.”I did make some mistakes, and these mistakes could be avoided.”
