Aspen Security Forum: Top security leaders address assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump
Dan Bayer/Aspen Security Forum
A discussion of the evolving threat landscape in the United States at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday focused on the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump after the attempt made last-minute changes to the forum’s schedule.
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper debated the shortcomings in Secret Service action after a 20-year-old man shot at Trump on Saturday, July 13, during a rally in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, from a nearby rooftop and grazed Trump’s ear, coming close to killing him.
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was subpoenaed by the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee to testify on the assassination attempt, was originally scheduled to speak at a different Aspen Security Forum event on Wednesday morning before Saturday’s events resulted in last-minute schedule changes.
“The Secret Service has to go out and pitch a no-hitter every single game because if any runner gets on first base, it’s catastrophic,” Johnson said. “They have a very, very demanding job. I believe it is no accident, it is no dumb luck, that it’s been 43 years since anyone has tried to take a shot at a president or a future president or a past president.”
He supervised the Secret Service as the Secretary of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama from 2013-2017.
The Secret Service has come under scrutiny in the days since the attempted assassination for its response, especially as information has come out about when the shooter was spotted on a rooftop about 140 yards from the stage on which Trump spoke. When the agency prepared plans for the rally, it relinquished security to a building outside of its security perimeter to local law enforcement officials in Butler, Pennsylvania, The New York Times reported.
“I’m not a security expert in terms of law enforcement, but clearly, there was a failure with regard to securing the outer perimeter,” Esper said. “What they did on stage was quite remarkable when it showed the bravery of the Secret Service and their quick thinking and reaction. But leaving exposed a rooftop less than 150 yards from the podium seems like a glaring error to most people.”
Esper served as the Secretary of Defense from 2019-2020 and as the Secretary of the Army from 2017-2019 under Trump.
Johnson said leaving the rooftop unsupervised by both Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers was likely a failure of communication, despite heightened security around the former president because of reports of an Iranian plot to kill Trump. The plot was reported after the Saturday assassination attempt and was not considered connected to the events in Pennsylvania.
“There is, under normal circumstances, a lot of planning that goes into an event like this. I don’t know, but I suspect that this campaign event was on short notice, but the Secret Service, when you’re dealing with a protectee like Donald Trump, has to coordinate the whole effort … The Secret Service is in charge,” Johnson said. “And what distresses me is to see federal and local law enforcement doing this because the Secret Service has overall responsibility.”
A slew of Western Slope lawmakers condemned the assassination attempt since Saturday, many calling for an end to hateful rhetoric.
“I condemn the attempted assassination. No one should face violence for running for office,” said House District 57 Rep. Elizabeth Velasco in a previous statement to The Aspen Times. “I hope we never see anything like this again — it threatens our very democracy. I am also an advocate for gun violence prevention and will continue to support laws that would prevent this type of violence.”
In a previous statement to the Times, Sen. Perry Will, a New Castle Republican who represents Senate District 5, called the attack “senseless.”
“We as Americans have to tamp down this political rhetoric,” he said. “We must all unite and condemn this kind of violence.”
Lucy Peterson covers education and Snowmass for the Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9152 or lpeterson@aspentimes.com.
Aspen Security Forum: Top security leaders address assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump
A discussion of the evolving threat landscape in the United States at the Aspen Security Forum Wednesday focused on the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump after the attempt made last-minute changes to the forum’s schedule.
