(WASHINGTON) — The gunman who fired on former President Donald Trump on Saturday should never have been able to get a “direct line” of sight, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
“A direct line of sight like that to the former president should not occur,” Mayorkas told ABC News’ on Good Morning America on Monday. “That’s why president Biden directed an independent review of the incident.”
Members of the U.S. Secret Service, an agency that sits under Mayorkas’ Homeland Security, shot and killed a 20-year-old gunman who allegedly took aim at former President Donald Trump on Saturday in Pennsylvania, officials said. Secret Service agents surrounded the former president, collectively wrapping themselves around him and hustling him to a waiting vehicle.
But in the days since the shooting, the service has come under scrutiny for how the alleged gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, could have come so close in his attempt to assassinate Trump.
“We have to learn everything about the assailant who, of course, the secret service so bravely neutralized,” Mayorkas said on Monday.
He added, “We are going to really study the event independently and make recommendations to the Secret Service and to me, so that we can assure the safety and security of our protectees, which is one of our most vital missions in the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and across the government.”
Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle briefed President Joe Biden late Saturday, following the assassination attempt, according to the secretary.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today,” he said on social media late Saturday.
He added, “We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
The FBI has taken the lead in the investigation into the assassination attempt. Under Mayorkas, Homeland Security and the Secret Service are “are working with law enforcement partners to respond to and investigate the shooting,” the secretary said.
The Secret Service on Saturday formally notified the FBI of the incident, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
President Joe Biden announced an independent review of the agency’s actions, a review that Cheatle said on Monday the agency would welcome.
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