(Washington) Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe acknowledged Friday “failures” on the part of the agency responsible for protecting senior American political figures during the failed assassination of Donald Trump on July 13.
The internal investigation “found deficiencies in the Secret Service’s planning and execution,” Rowe said at a news conference.
“While some of the members of the reconnaissance team were very conscientious, others were negligent,” he said, referring to future sanctions.
Some line-of-fire issues had been noted but not reported to management, Rowe added.
He is acting for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned on July 23 after admitting responsibility for the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
Among the lessons to be learned from the fiasco, Rowe cited “a lack of clarity” on the part of the Secret Service in its dealings with local police and its expectations of them, as well as gaps in the transmission of information.
The former president was injured in the ear by the gunfire, which also left one person dead and two others injured at his rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania (Northeast).
Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by the Secret Service shortly after opening fire from the roof of a nearby building.
Images of Donald Trump, blood streaming down his face and his fist raised, have been seen around the world.