by Lawrence Kadish
Published reports reveal that Trump's campaign security people recognized potential threats to the candidate while addressing rallies and asked for expanded Secret Service support. There was a conscious decision by that agency to deny those requests.
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| US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle appeared before a US House of Representatives Oversight Committee looking into the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, in a performance worthy of – well – Ford's Theater. She dodged virtually all key questions regarding accountability, oversight, and who is ultimately responsible. Pictured: Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight Committee on July 22, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images) |
If there was to be an award given to an incompetent, even criminally negligent, Secret Service official, it would have to be called the "Parker Trophy." It would be named for John Parker who was the Washington D.C. policeman assigned to guard Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theater.
According to historians: "John Parker was an unlikely candidate to guard a president—or anyone for that matter.... Parker's record as a cop fell somewhere between pathetic and comical. He was hauled before the police board numerous times, facing a smorgasbord of charges that should have gotten him fired."
Parker may have been in a nearby saloon or somewhere in the theater gallery to watch the play when John Wilkes Booth entered Lincoln's box and shot him at point-blank range.
Putting incompetence aside regarding the actions of the Secret Service in the time before the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, there are a multitude of serious strategic questions that must be addressed by that agency in the weeks to come regarding its function, management, and chain of command.
Published reports reveal that Trump's campaign security people recognized potential threats to the candidate while addressing rallies and asked for expanded Secret Service support. There was a conscious decision by that agency to deny those requests. More often than not, they claimed they just didn't have the resources.
If the protection of an individual who is, arguably, the most powerful individual on the planet isn't a priority, then what is? If you are the director of that agency and you don't believe you have been given the resources to do the job, then you have a solemn responsibility to inform the nation. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, appeared before a US House of Representatives Oversight Committee looking into the assassination attempt in a performance worthy of – well – Ford's Theater. She dodged virtually all key questions regarding accountability, oversight, and who is ultimately responsible.
The obvious and immediate question that many Americans asked following the attempted murder was whether the Secret Service was directed to ignore requests for additional agents protecting Trump, or was it simply agency incompetence that led to this tragedy? The answer may never be established, but the path of American history can never again depend on who may be eligible for "The Parker Trophy."
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
Source:https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20812/sleeping-secret-service
1 comment:
and whether the Secret Service deliberately dispensed with providing the customery and obligatory bullet proof protection screne in front of President Trump ? An obvious question yet not openly posed yet! Why not ?
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