Former Agent Calls Out Flaws in Trump Protection After Assassination Attempt

As we all saw, there were numerous mistakes made when the Secret Service was doing the cover and transport maneuver to escort Trump to his vehicle and get him to the hospital after the assassination attempt.

While the photo taken of Trump after the assassination attempt was truly iconic and will stand the test of time, it never should have happened.

The only reason that took place was because the agents assigned to Trump were not doing their job.

Breakdown

The number one duty of agents at that moment is to cover the president so there are no openings to take another shot.

When Trump pushed his way over the top of the agents, someone should have pushed his head right back down and done whatever it took to cover Trump.

Instead, they exposed Trump for about 10 seconds, which would have been more than enough time for a second shooter to take him out, had there been one.

When they moved Trump, one agent actually bent over to pick up Trump’s hat, leaving his entire head and upper body open.

And if you look at the transport move, for most of that time, Trump’s head was visible, leaving him open to another shot for about 90 seconds or so.

Former Secret Service Director John Magaw agreed, stating, “It was absolutely terrible coverage trying to get him out.”

A.T. Smith, the deputy director of the Secret Service from 2012 to 2015, agreed, saying they needed to keep Trump lower and move faster.

He continued, “The Secret Service training protocols, when they practice this and they have mock assassination attempts, the idea is for the (protective) detail leader or an agent to be able to wrap his hand around the midsection of the protectee and bend him over, and bum’s rush him to either a secure area or into the vehicle.”

Regular agents practice this move almost daily until muscle memory takes over, but the agents on Trump’s detail looked ill-prepared for what happened that day.

We have also seen reports that some of the agents on detail that day were not even Secret Service agents, but DHS agents. That has yet to be confirmed, but if that is the case, Director Cheatle should be removed and charged.

Trump, thankfully, survived, but it was pure luck because virtually every move by every agent on his detail that day kept Trump at risk, the complete opposite of what they are supposed to be doing in that situation.