One 12 months after Butler assassination try, Secret Service bolsters safety with drones, cell command posts
Laurel, Maryland — It was nearly one 12 months in the past that 20-year-old Thomas Crooks tried to assassinate President Trump at a marketing campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, an incident which prompted a number of investigations into the U.S. Secret Service’s actions and procedures on that day.
Previous to the capturing on July 13, 2024, Crooks flew his personal business drone for 11 minutes above the Butler marketing campaign rally website, however the Secret Service missed it.
This week, CBS Information was taken contained in the Secret Service’s James J. Rowley Coaching Heart in Laurel, Maryland, simply outdoors Washington, D.C., to see the company’s latest eyes within the sky, a fleet of military-grade drones that reimagine aerial reconnaissance in a post-Butler period.
Matt Quinn, Secret Service deputy director, informed CBS Information he feels assured within the new expertise.
“Sure, we’re in place now, to not simply detect, however to mitigate unauthorized UAS (unmanned plane techniques),” Quinn mentioned.
In Butler, native police warnings didn’t attain Secret Service counter-snipers as a result of the companies couldn’t radio one another straight.
Together with the military-grade drones, the Secret Service additionally established a system of cell command posts — with worth tags starting from $600,000 to $1.5 million — which permit brokers to speak over radio straight with native legislation enforcement, one thing that didn’t exist in Butler.
“That is super to have the ability to consolidate communications, make sure that everybody’s on the identical web page,” Quinn mentioned.
It is without doubt one of the many classes nonetheless being realized a 12 months later.
“We’re centered immediately on offering the best possible expertise, the perfect communications tools, in order that July thirteenth isn’t repeated,” Quinn mentioned.
On Thursday, the Secret Service introduced it was suspending six personnel with out pay following an inside investigation into the Butler capturing, which alongside with wounding Mr. Trump, left one rallygoer lifeless and two others injured.
Quinn believes that the modifications the Secret Service are making are a step in the precise path.
“I am assured that we’re getting there,” he mentioned.
