After ‘luck’ saved Donald Trump from being ‘murdered,’ a topDemocratis demanding sweeping reforms to the Secret Service due to conspicuous failures.
Since the near-assassination of Donald Trumpand the murder of retired firefighter Corey Comperatore at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally exactly one month ago, lawmakers are cracking the whip on the agency.
Putting forward a tranche of Secret Service-related bills Tuesday on the one-month anniversary of the shooting, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., wants to avoid another tragedy.
Speaking exclusively with DailyMail.com, Torres torched the agency’s performance, saying Trump was saved by ‘luck’ and ‘not the skill of the Secret Service.’
‘We cannot leave the security of a president or a presidential candidate the chance,’ the Democrat said.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., put forward several measures this week to streamline the Secret Service’s responsibilities and ensure that its protective radius around politicians is drastically increased following Donald Trump getting shot a month ago by Thomas Matthew Crooks
‘If the former president had moved even slightly, he would have been murdered. If the shooter had been a little more precise in his targeting, the former president would have been murdered,’ Torres said bluntly.
He said there are two main ‘conspicuous failures’ that need to be fixed in the aftermath of Trump’s shooting.
‘First, why on earth was the security perimeter narrower than the firing range of an AR-15, which is a common weapon in an assassination or in a mass shooting,’ he said.
‘Common sense would dictate that the security perimeter should be at least coextensive with the firing range of weapons most commonly employed in an assassination of mass shooting.’
One of Torres’s two measures revealed Tuesday demands that the agency establish a minimum 500-yard perimeter around protected politicians.
If passed the ‘AR-15 Perimeter Security Enhancement Act’ would mandate the Secret Service Director to ensure that any security perimeter covers a radius of at least 500 yards.
‘Second, why were the rooftops and the elevated positions within the firing range of an AR-15 not secured by the Secret Service?’ Torres said. ‘The rally was not held in a densely populated urban environment with 1000s of buildings and rooftops.’
‘It was held in a rural environment that only had a few rooftops and a few elevated positions, and there was no excuse for not securing them, and you could secure them, not only with people, but with drone technology,’ Torres told DailyMail.com.
U.S. Secret Service agents and counter assault team react moments after shots were fired toward Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president from within 160 yards, prompting critics to slam the agency for letting him get so close to Trump
U.S. Secret Service agent on watch before Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on August 7
The bill would also require the director to ensure ‘all elevated positions within the firing range’ of an AR-15 rifle are secure.
The impetus for the quarter-mile security radius, Torres says, is to prevent another shooter from getting in range of a protectee with an AR-15.
Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks used that same rifle to shoot Trump and several rally goers from roughly 150 yards away.
The common high-powered rifle generally has an effective range up to 600 yards, less than the proposed radius in Torres’s bill, but far more than the 150-yard range the Crooks was able to open fire from.
‘It requires the Secret Service to establish a security perimeter, and it’s every bit as extensive as the firing range of an AR-15, and it requires the Secret Service to secure every elevated position and every rooftop within the firing range of an AR-15.’
Security analysts have bemoaned how Crooks, a 20-year-old high school graduate, was able to thwart Secret Service’s many protective protocols, with one even saying how the shooter was in the ‘perfect’ locationdespite the agency’s best efforts.
The Secret Service began in 1865 to combat financial crimes related to counterfeiting, which was a major issue in post-war America. Then after the assassination of PresidentWilliam McKinley in 1901, the agency was given politician protective duties in addition to their financial work.
Snipers stand on a roof at Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
In addition to introducing legislation to expand the protective radius, Torres announced a bill that will sever the Secret Service’s financial crimes division.
His ‘Focus on Protection Act,’ announced Tuesday would transfer the Secret Service’s investigative jurisdiction over financial systems and payments to the Treasury Department.
‘The Secret Service has too few resources and too many responsibilities,’ Torres said, adding that the agency’s financial responsibilities ‘distract’ from its ‘core mission’ of protecting politicians.
‘The Secret Service is not only responsible for protecting the president and presidential candidates, it is also responsible for protecting the financial system, which is a relic of the 19th century.
‘It seems to me that the Secret Service should be exclusively focused on the mission of protecting the president and presidential candidates.’
The agency was created in 1865 to combat financial crimes related to counterfeiting – which was a major issue in post-war America.
The Secret Service was initially set up within the Treasury Department.
Then after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, the agency was given politician protective duties in addition to their financial work.
After mainly focusing on protecting politicos in the ensuing century, the agency was transferred from the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
Torres’s measure would force the Secret Service to hand over the financial crimes unit back to the Treasury Department within 180 days of passage.
Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign event at Butler after getting shot
A screen grab captured from a video shows the shooter Crooks was killed by the Secret Service, according to a source from the agency
‘We want to shift the financial law enforcement function of the Secret Service to the Treasury Department, where it belongs,’ Torres told DailyMail.com. ‘The Treasury Department specializes in the financial system.’
‘We should ask ourselves a simple question, do you want the Secret Service Director thinking about protecting the president 100 percent of the time, only 50 percent of the time.’
‘I would prefer 100,’ he added.
Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi told DailyMail.com: ‘The U.S. Secret Service does not discuss proposed or pending legislation.’
Though he did say ‘The U.S. Secret Service’s investigative mission makes our protective operations stronger, and our agents are most successful when they are able to gain experience and learn from both missions.’
Besides the two bills Torres introduced Tuesday, he also worked with New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler to introduce a bill offering a Secret Service detail for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The bipartisan measure was released the day after Trump’s shooting on July 14.
‘Last night’s attempted assassination of former President Trump was a dark moment in our nation’s history,’ they wrote, adding ‘It’s clear that more protection is needed for all major candidates for president.’
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a campaign rally at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, Arizona, U.S. February 5, 2024. President Biden directed his administration to provide Kennedy a detail after Trump’s shooting
The assassination attempt had raised concerns over the security of all presidential candidates, particularly Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had up until July been refused Secret Service protection.
However, the lawmakers were preempted by President Biden’s administration, which directed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to ‘provide protection to’ RFK.
The independent candidate later thanked the president for allowing him to finally receive a protective detail last month.
