The main role of the Secret Service is to protect the President, former Presidents and their family members. Presidential candidates are also protected by the Secret Service.

Washington: The United States has failed to protect former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. A young gunman shot the 78-year-old Trump while addressing a campaign rally in Butler. Trump survived the assassination attempt, as a bullet came within a millimeter of him, one of which hit his right ear.

“The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13. It was a mission failure. Our agency's sole responsibility is to ensure that our patrons are never in danger. We fell short in Butler. And I am working to ensure that this failure does not happen again,” US Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Roe said at a news conference.

The main role of the Secret Service is to protect the President, former Presidents and their family members. Presidential candidates are also protected by the Secret Service. Rowe said the Secret Service will continue to cooperate with pending oversight investigations into the July 13 failure, now in an independent review directed by Congress, the Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General and President Joe Biden.

“I am not waiting for those reports to be completed, and I have directed the Secret Service to take immediate steps to ensure that our protectors are truly safe. I am committed to taking responsibility for the failure of the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“But let me be clear. If policy violations by Secret Service personnel are identified through the agency's mission assurance review, those individuals will be held accountable. They will be responsible for our fair and thorough disciplinary process,” he said.

Recounting the sequence of events on July 13, Rowe said that at 5:30 p.m., Trump arrived at a campaign rally by Secret Service motorcade, and at that time, he met with supporters in a secure backstage area in a protected location. At 5:45 p.m., a local Butler County Emergency Services Unit Counter Sniper Team member texted the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team Leader about a suspicious person and sent two photos of the person, later identified as the attacker.

At 5:53 p.m., the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team Leader texted the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team that local law enforcement was looking for a suspicious person outside the perimeter of the AGR building. At this time, Secret Service personnel were aware that local law enforcement was working on a suspect problem. At 6 p.m., former President Trump took the stage to begin his remarks.

“Based on what I know right now, members of the Secret Service counter-sniper team or the former president's security detail were not aware of a man with a gun on the roof of the AGR building. I am of the opinion that the staff did not know that the assailant had a firearm until they heard the shots,” he said.

“At 6:11 p.m., a member of former President Trump's protective detail contacted his Pittsburgh field office counterpart and inquired about a radio update that there was a problem with local law enforcement near the perimeter.

“At 6:11 p.m., the assailant fired three shots and within three seconds, the former president's detail rushed the stage and covered Trump, covering him with his own body,” Rowe said in a timeline of the failed assassination. July 13.

“In the next few seconds four to eight shots were fired. Fifteen and a half seconds after the assailant's first shot, a Secret Service counter sniper fired a round that neutralized the assailant,” he said. Rowe told reporters that it was a failure.

“We should have had better protection for the protected person. We should have had better coverage on that roof line. We should at least have a few other eyes to cover it from a Secret Service perspective. That building was very close to that outer perimeter and our presence should have been greater,” he said. “This was a Secret Service failure. That roof line should be covered. We should have had a good look at it,” he added.