Multiple Secret Service Agents Placed on Leave

It's part of the fallout from the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2024 11:18 AM CDT
Multiple Secret Service Agents Placed on Leave
Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is helped off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024.   (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The Secret Service has placed multiple agents on leave as it investigates the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last month in Butler, Pennsylvania, reports CBS News. Those placed on leave include the head of the agency's Pittsburgh field office, which was responsible for planning and coordinating security, per NBC News. Meanwhile, agents assigned to Trump's day-to-day protection remain on the job, notes Real Clear Politics, which assesses: "The differing treatment of the two teams is spurring internal dissension and speculation that the Pittsburgh office could bear the brunt of the serious security failures that day, even though there's plenty of blame to go around."

The question is a how a 20-year-old gunman was able to position himself on a nearby roof and begin firing shots that hit the former president's ear and killed one attendee, per CNN. In police bodycam video that emerged after the shooting, one officer is heard saying he had warned the Secret Service that someone should have been positioned on the roof used by the gunman. (The head of the agency resigned after being grilled by Congress.)

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