The group’s president, Patrick Yoes, released a statement after Rowe testified about the investigation in front of federal lawmakers.
“The Secret Service still cannot seem to provide any answers almost three weeks after the attempt on the former President’s life, but they don’t seem to have any trouble assigning blame on a partner agency,” Yoes said. “It is the responsibility of the Secret Service to ensure the safety of their protectee—all that the local agencies can do is assist them with manpower and resources.”
At a joint hearing of the Senate Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Assistant Director Rowe testified that Secret Service was told by local law enforcement that the “building was going to be covered.” He added that he could not “understand why there was not better coverage” and asked, “why was the assailant not seen?” Later, in response to questions, he stated the agency “assumed the State and locals had it [covered].”
“Well, we all know what happens when you assume,” Yoes said. “Because of these assumptions and the cascade of failures that occurred at this event, an innocent man has died, and a former President was struck by gunfire.
“Which agency is responsible for security at the event?
“Which agency placed these buildings beyond the security perimeter?
“Which agency allowed the event to proceed and placed their protectee in the line of fire? The answers to all of these questions is the United States Secret Service. Period!”
“This is like a general blaming a tank driver for losing a battle,” said Yoes. “The Acting Director needs to focus on finding out what went wrong before he blames his agency’s local law enforcement partners.”
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