Inspector General Details Missed Warnings, Communication Breakdowns, and Security Lapses That Allowed Gunman to Open Fire at Donald Trump’s Butler Campaign Rally
The U.S. Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to detect, prevent, and disrupt the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, including failing to receive more than 102 radio transmissions warning of a suspicious individual, according to a Department of Homeland Security report.
Released on July 2 by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, the report documents a series of communication failures, inadequate planning, limited intelligence sharing, and security shortcomings that collectively created the conditions allowing gunman Thomas Crooks to open fire from the roof of a nearby building during the July 13, 2024, rally. Crooks was fatally shot by a Secret Service agent.
Among the report’s most significant findings, investigators determined that Secret Service personnel did not receive 102 radio transmissions that local law enforcement officers, operating from a separate communications room, received during an increasingly urgent search for a suspicious person. Instead, the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages regarding Crooks. As a result, agents failed to alert President Trump’s protective detail about the growing concerns.
According to the report, the Secret Service would have delayed Trump’s speech or removed him from the stage had agents been aware of the active search for Crooks.
The investigation also found that the Secret Service failed to detect a drone flown by Crooks over the rally site approximately two hours before the shooting. Investigators said the agency’s counter-drone system was inoperable due to a malfunction, while the sole operator assigned to the event lacked sufficient training to repair the equipment. As a result, the system remained offline during the nearly nine-minute drone flight, allowing Crooks to survey both the rally stage and the rooftop he later used to carry out the attack.
The report further identified serious communication breakdowns between the Secret Service and local law enforcement. Specifically, the agency never received three radio reports indicating that Crooks had climbed onto a rooftop carrying a rifle.
Investigators also concluded that classified intelligence regarding a long-range threat to Trump was not shared with the Pittsburgh field office or with the agents responsible for planning security for the Butler rally. The report stated that broader dissemination of the intelligence likely would have resulted in additional security personnel being assigned to the event.
In addition, investigators found that the Secret Service failed to ensure the American Glass Research complex—the location from which Crooks launched the attack—was properly secured by state and local law enforcement. The agency also did not use available resources to obstruct the rooftop’s line of sight to the stage, despite identifying it as a potential security vulnerability.
The inspector general issued seven recommendations aimed at strengthening future protective operations. The Secret Service agreed with all seven recommendations, and the report noted that while some have already been implemented, others remain in progress.
