"Zero Fail." That's how the U.S. Secret Service describes its mission. Yet, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Secret Service agent who would claim that Saturday's assassination attempt on presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump was anything other than a failure. But for an inch or so, the iconic agency almost lost a protectee to a shooter's bullet. Even so, a spectator was killed and two others were injured. The investigation has already begun — even as the Secret Service prepares to secure the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. And the answers will come. But they better come quickly. If the failure on Saturday was even partly because of limited resources, at a time when a significant proportion of Secret Service personnel are protecting the RNC, then we need to figure out immediately if the Service is stretched so thin that it can't simultaneously address multiple major events without a risky overreliance on local police. This is a preview of Frank Figliuzzi's latest article. Read the full column here. |
