At least five US Secret Service agents have been placed on leave after the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July.
The action is reportedly the latest consequence of the security failings surrounding the 13 July shooting, when a 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire on Trump as he spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was wounded after a bullet grazed his right ear. One rally-goer, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting while two others were seriously injured. Crooks was later shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
The agents who were placed on leave work at the Secret Service’s Pittsburgh field office, which was responsible for coordinating security at the rally along with local law enforcement, according to Real Clear Politics, which broke the story. They include the head of the Pittsburgh office.
The officers concerned are believed to have been put on administrative leave, which usually involves being taken off operational duties while still receiving a full salary. They are expected to report to the office and may be given paperwork duties.
An agency investigation is understood to be looking into how a low-rise building – from whose roof Crooks fired – was left outside the security perimeter, despite being only 150 yards (137 metres) from where the former president and Republican nominee for November’s election spoke.
In a statement, a Secret Service spokesperson did not confirm that agents had been put on leave but said “disciplinary action” might result from its internal inquiry.
“The US Secret Service is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel related to the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump,” the spokesperson said.
“We are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure. Any identified and substantiated violations of policy will be investigated by the office of professional responsibility for potential disciplinary action. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not in a position to comment further.”
The attempt on Trump’s life – which took place two days before the opening of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee – has already resulted in the resignation of the Secret Service’s director, Kimberly Cheatle. She stepped down after a stormy hearing on Capitol Hill when members of Congress accused her of a lack of transparency over security arrangements at the rally.
Her acting successor as director, Ronald Rowe, said in a Senate hearing on 30 July that the Secret Service was investigating whether agents failed to follow established protocols or broke the rules. If any were found to have done so, he said, they would be subject to disciplinary action, including termination.
Trump has been given stepped-up protection since the shooting, with the Secret Service urging him to avoid open-air rallies and to stick to indoor arenas. In North Carolina on 21 August, the former president spoke behind bulletproof glass in his first outdoor rally since the shooting.
