Executive protection expert weighs in on Secret Service's actions
Bill Stanton speaks with Fox News Digital on the Secret Service's actions leading up to and after the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
An executive security expert ripped Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle for failing to protect former President Trump on Saturday, saying the agency needs to clean house, especially after her "sloped roof" excuse.
Bill Stanton, who has worked in the field for four decades, took aim at Cheatle's assertion that agents passed on manning a nearby roof used by shooter Thomas Crooks because it was sloped.
The would-be assassin climbed to the roof of the building and squeezed off several rounds that injured Trump and killed rally attendee Corey Comperatore. Two others were critically wounded.
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"Her explanation that it was dangerous that the roof was pitched to me is the equivalent of a school child saying that the dog ate their homework," Stanton said. "How does that pass muster for anybody, regardless of political affiliation?"
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist after a bullet grazed his ear during a rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker)
Stanton said Trump was inches from certain death and that Cheatle would have been squarely to blame.
"God forbid that bullet was 1 inch over to the right, and it actually killed our former president," he said. "Was that the excuse she was going to give, that the roof was too pitched, and she still has a job?"
"This is an epic fail, and only if the president turned his head, that is what stopped this from being a national disaster."
Stanton said Crooks should never have been able to position himself so close to Trump, that Cheatle's reasoning doesn't hold muster.
"I'd like to see the overall security plan," he said. "The fact that an assailant got so close, the embarrassment that law enforcement was allegedly in the building when they should have been on the roof."
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Trump is rushed off the stage after an assassination attempt, left, and Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle. (Getty Images)
The agency's malfeasance was so grave, Stanton said, that terminations should be a given.
"When a full investigation is done," he said, "if there aren't terminations of people's employment over this, I don't know what to do. How many mistakes need to be made? Our president, our former president, was almost assassinated based on inefficiency."
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Cheatle, he said, should have already tendered her resignation once Trump was deemed safe.
He also asserted that Cheatle emphasized diversity over competence in her agency, resulting in Saturday's debacle.
"Her focus is on diversity, equity inclusion, not putting the proper agents where they're supposed to be," he said.
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Corey Comperatore was the rallygoer who was killed Saturday in an assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Facebook)
Several rally attendees and law enforcement officials took note of Crooks' presence on top of the roof, but he was still able to fire his weapon before being fatally shot.
"This is an epic fail," Stanton said. "And only if the president turned his head, that is what stopped this from being a national disaster."
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Cheatle previously served as senior director of global security at PepsiCo.
Fox News Digital's Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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