(Bloomberg) -- A top US official said a communications breakdown between the Secret Service and local police was a major security failure surrounding the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Ronald Rowe, the acting head of the embattled Secret Service, told senators on Tuesday that his agency was ultimately responsible for failing to prevent the shooting earlier this month. However, he said that local law enforcement didn’t fully carry out its assigned tasks and communication problems prevented his agents from understanding the full threat.
US officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed up on a roof on July 13 within sight of the outdoor stage and fired a semi-automatic rifle that injured Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The incident has raised questions about the level of coordination between federal and local law enforcement agencies and fueled bipartisan outrage.
“We assumed that the state and locals had it,” Rowe said during a Senate hearing, referring to the rooftop where officials say the shooter was located. “I can assure you that we’re not going to make that mistake again.”
Rowe showed lawmakers images of the roof with members of his team reenacting the position of the shooter.
The Secret Service will be more explicit in its instructions to law enforcement partners going forward, Rowe said. The agency is increasing vetting of security plans and will expand use of drones in sensitive areas. He added that Secret Service personnel will be disciplined if they didn’t follow protocols.
Rowe, who said he was “ashamed” of the lapses, became acting director last week. He was appointed when Kimberly Cheatle, who called the shooting the agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, resigned.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the criminal probe of the shooting, has said the 20-year-old shooter acted alone and made significant efforts to conceal his plans for the attack. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate also answered lawmakers’ questions at the hearing.
Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the FBI as part of its probe, special agent Kevin Rojek told reporters Monday.
(Updates with comments about local law enforcement.)
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