Secret Service missed 102 radio calls during 2024 Trump assassination attempt, watchdog finds

The U.S. Secret Service failed to receive 102 local radio transmissions concerning the gunman who targeted former President Donald Trump at a 2024 campaign rally. A government watchdog report revealed the agency was unaware of these transmissions on July 13, 2024, because it neglected to set up a joint communications room with local law enforcement.

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Instead, we found that the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks.

Local authorities were receiving reports about the search for Thomas Crooks, the assailant, but the Secret Service only received five phone calls and three text messages about him. This communication breakdown meant that Trump's protective detail was not alerted to concerns about a suspicious individual. Crooks, who was killed by law enforcement at the rally, opened fire while Trump was speaking, resulting in one bystander's death and injuries to others, including Trump himself.

The report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's inspector general also found that the Secret Service's counter-drone system was inoperable during the event. The system was operated by a single, under-trained individual who did not test it beforehand. The operator spent hours attempting to fix the issue, during which time Crooks conducted an undetected drone flight over the area hours before the shooting.

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As a result, Secret Service members did not alert President Trump’s protective detail about concerns of a suspicious person.

In response, the Secret Service stated it concurred with the inspector general's recommendations. A spokesperson noted that many of these recommendations had already been identified and implemented as part of ongoing reform efforts. The inspector general's report covered areas such as information sharing and addressing "line of sight vulnerabilities" before events.

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Many of these recommendations were already identified ... and have since been implemented as part of our ongoing reform efforts.