(12)
between the local LEOs being told about the shooter are being routed through dispatch, to local liaisons, then to Secret Service.
Compounding the difficulty to rapidly respond is the fact that there’s always some confusion and inefficiency when multiple different LEO
(13)
agencies come together to work a detail. Most of these agencies aren’t used to working with each other and aren’t given much information beyond a few pre-event briefings.
(14)
I actually saw what can go wrong in these scenarios first-hand when President Bush’s Secret Service detail almost engaged a local police SWAT/counter sniper team during the 2004 G8 summit. No one had properly communicated the local SWAT team’s position so all the
(15)
Secret Service saw was heavily armed individuals with a line of sight on the President.
The whole thing was seconds away from being a tragic incident.
In this same vein, there was likely some delay and confusion with the initial reports of a person with a gun on the roof
(16)
as local cops and Secret Service agents would all be trying to confirm the shooter didn’t belong to one of the security support teams.
(17)
So in summary, when looking for blame in this massive security failure, if I was a betting man, I’d say the answer rests with whatever detail (likely local LEOs) were assigned to the area near the outbuildings.
(18)
I’ll also add that I worked 5 Presidential details as a local LEO attachment. Even though I was in close proximity for each detail, in only 2 of them did I actually ever see the President or Vice President. That was Bush, while he was in the limo driving away. And Chaney
(19)
but that was because I was on an inner position, feet away from him.
You’re explicitly trained that your eyes are always on the crowd, surroundings and potential threats.
Never on the President themselves.
For obvious reasons…
(20)
Now my experience is entirely limited to official presidential visits, which are planned at least months and in some cases a year in advance.
It’s likely that some of the breakdowns or issues I mentioned can be exponentially increased when it comes to campaign trips
(21)
as these stops can come up or change on very short notice.
https://twitter.com/LtTimMcMillan/status/1812421141081776544
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1812383798740324380.html
2/2