Secret Service comes under intense scrutiny for 'major failure' following shooting at Trump rally

While the investigation remains in its early stages, law enforcement experts told Business Insider the historic shooting will certainly prompt a major review of Secret Service procedure.

Matt Shoemaker, a former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, went as far as calling the shooting a "major failure" of the Secret Service.

"I've been to these sorts of events before, and there are layers upon layers of security," Shoemaker said. "So for the alleged shooter to be on a rooftop, with a clear shot to the podium — it is mind-boggling to say that this was overlooked."

Kenneth Valentine, a former Secret Service Special Agent in Charge who served under three presidents, agreed.

"There needs to be a full investigation to get to the bottom of how anyone was able to get rounds off into a secured venue," Valentine told Business Insider. "Anytime your Protectee is whisked out of an event bleeding from a gunshot wound, the word failure enters into the conversation, and you have to get very real about owning that and figuring out what we're going to do different, and better."

Trump said in a post on Truth Social several hours after the 6:15 p.m. shooting that a bullet hit the upper part of his right ear. In videos of the shooting, the former president could be seen clutching his hand to his bloodied face and later raising his fist triumphantly while being escorted off the stage by the Secret Service.

A Secret Service spokesperson directed Business Insider to public statements posted by the federal agency on social media and declined to answer specific questions about the incident.

US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, in a post on X, wrote that the suspected shooter "fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside" the venue of former President Trump's rally.

"US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures, and the former president is safe and being evaluated," Guglielmi's statement continued, noting that the FBI had been notified about the shooting.

In a separate statement, the FBI indicated it would take the lead on the investigation. Representatives for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

In a press briefing shortly after midnight, FBI special agent Kevin Rojek noted "it is surprising" that the shooter managed to fire several rounds before being neutralized by the Secret Service.

The heightened attention toward the Secret Service prompted Guglielmi to deny rumors that the agency rejected a request from Trump's team to provide additional security resources.

"Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President's team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed," Guglielmi's statement, shared to X on Sunday, read. "This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo."

Representatives for the Secret Service were not present at the press conference to respond to questions about the incident.

Shoemaker told BI it appeared that the presence of the shooter "slipped through the cracks," despite firsthand reports of a witness who told the BBC that he saw and attempted to alert authorities to the presence of a man with a rifle on a roof nearby the rally.

"Maybe they didn't pay too much attention to it. Maybe they did take it seriously, but there just wasn't enough time before the shots rang out," Shoemaker said. "But the fact that the shot even happened — that the only thing right now that is saving the Secret Service is the fact that President Trump was not killed, which means that they were relying on pure luck that the individual that they're charged with protecting did not die — if they're relying on luck, it means that there is a problem and it means that there's a failure somewhere."

Shoemaker wasn't alone in his assessment that the shooting would prompt a major examination of the Secret Service's policies and procedures.

Valentine told Business Insider he expected an investigation to reveal failures to adhere to established security or communication protocols. He noted that, in his estimation, the Secret Service had already failed by the time the shooter was able to make it onto the roof of the nearby building — before he managed to fire a shot.

"The methodology has worked for a long time, and it's extremely effective," Valentine said. "My question is, was the methodology and the protocol for effecting that methodology followed yesterday — and I think that's what the investigation is going to bear out."

Ken Gray, a retired FBI agent and lecturer in the criminal justice department of the University of New Haven, told Business Insider that, given the fact that the shooter was outside the cleared rally event, he expects future events will need to "expand the perimeter of the secured zone or move indoors." 

However, Gray noted it is "too early to make an assessment" about whether the incident should be considered a complete security failure, especially given the flood of unconfirmed information circulating about the shooting online.

Criticism of the Secret Service's capacity to protect Trump continued to circulate online in the day following the shooting.

Among the highest-profile critics was Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who, for the first time following the incident, publicly endorsed Trump. Musk in a series of posts sharply criticized the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, who previously served as the head of security for the soft drink company Pepsi before leading the Secret Service.

"So before being put in charge of protecting the PRESIDENT, she was guarding bags of Cheetos …" Musk wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of her biography and work history.

Trump's campaign, as well as the Republican National Committee, have indicated the party's planned convention in Milwaukee this week will proceed following the rally shooting. It is unclear what if any, modifications will be made to the security procedures at the event.

An investigation and more visible security measures

Shoemaker said he expects to see bulletproof glass surrounding the former president in future public appearances, as well as a more pronounced use of drones for aerial surveillance at his events.

"I would expect this to at least initial reports of basic findings to be released within the next 48 to 72 hours," Shoemaker said. "If they take longer than that, it's going to raise a lot of questions, just in terms of what the problem is — is the problem that they don't have enough expertise looking at this?"

Valentine wasn't as certain the investigation would be over promptly, telling Business Insider that, while there is intense pressure on the FBI to quickly reveal the cause of the security failure, he anticipated they would be "slow and methodical" in their approach.

"All those radio transmissions are going to be recorded, so it's all there to be investigated," Valentine said. "It should be very transparent — and honestly, I don't think this is a difficult thing to investigate. It ought to be readily evident what happened from point to point to point, and then we can assess what the breakdown was, and then who needs to own up to that, and who should be held responsible for that."

Going forward, Valentine said, he expects Secret Service agents to adhere more strictly to established security protocols — though he anticipated that Trump would appear in more open-air events soon, despite the risk.

Valentine added that his peers who remain in the Secret Service had expressed to him that they were "frustrated" following the fatal shooting. While he said the failure lies totally "on the Secret Service," he stressed that the small agency is often left without adequate resources to manage the high-profile risks they have to deal with properly and that agents take these types of failures personally.

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X that the House would investigate the "tragic events" that occurred at the rally.

"The American people deserve to know the truth," Johnson wrote. "We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP."