Trump rally shooting: Not enough Secret Service personnel at event, former agent says

PHOENIX - The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the U.S. Secret Service director to testify about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Trump was grazed by a bullet, millimeters away from death. One of his supporters was shot and killed, and two spectators were injured.

The Secret Service says protection for Trump has increased over the last few weeks, detailing concerns from his campaign about outdoor events.

Now, a former Secret Service special agent in charge says there's still not enough dedicated manpower for candidates.

Shots rang out, causing chaos and panic in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Trump ducked down behind a podium, bleeding from his ear before being escorted offstage by Secret Service agents with his fist in the air.

The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired an AR-style rifle from 150 yards away, perched on a sloped rooftop. Moments later, he was gunned down by the Secret Service.

Was there enough law enforcement presence at this rally?

"There was a law enforcement presence there, but it wasn’t a Secret Service presence. There was not enough Secret Service presence," said Frank Boudreaux, Jr., a former special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service.

Boudreaux led the Secret Service's Phoenix field office from 2021 to 2023. His career with the Secret Service spans 25 years.

He's worked with five presidents, including Joe Biden. Boudreaux says there are fewer resources for candidates compared to a sitting president.

"If that was the president, or if it was a national special security event like the current convention going on right now in Milwaukee, the Secret Service would have access in that place. There would have been a Secret Service-controlled area 150 yards outside of the station without a doubt."

And the perimeter at the rally, he says, was too small.

"I think the Secret Service needs to take anything within rifle range in their control," he said. "But to do that, they need to hire and have a lot more people available."

FOX News reported that a local law enforcement officer did spot a suspicious man carrying a range finder 30 minutes before the shooting.

"You need to have someone on the rooftop or someone controlling access to the rooftop," Boudreaux said.

Back in January 2022, Trump held a rally at the Country Thunder Festival grounds in Florence. He wasn't president then and Boudreaux says there were challenges.

"There was about 30,000 people there at an outdoor rally and, similarly, we had to work really hard to cut off the line of sight, granted there wasn’t high grounds that they have," he said.

Collaboration with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office was key. Boudreaux also says agencies like the FBI and IRS get more funding.

"There’s always been a motto that we do more with less and that needs to stop. We need to do more with more and unfortunately, ever since 9/11, shortly after 9/11, our resources have been tapped at a significantly higher rate than historical."

What's next?

"They’re gonna look at the initial advance documents, there’s going to be a site survey, there’s going to be a lead advance survey, there’s going to be a counter sniper survey that was all done by people that got there ahead of time, and they’re going to see what the requests for manpower were," he said.

Boudreaux believes the Secret Service will take a look at aerial security, like drones for outdoor events.

"The world has changed," he said. "I think the Secret Service has to do a better job of changing."

Homeland Security is investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Congress is opening its own investigation.