Sun | Nov 10, 2024

Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally

Published:Tuesday | July 23, 2024 | 9:35 AM
Kimberly Cheatle, Director, US Secret Service, testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Oversight of the US Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J Trump, on Capitol Hill, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job, according to an email she sent to staff, following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

"I take full responsibility for the security lapse," she said in the email to staff Tuesday. "In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director."

The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 meters (157 yards) of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire.

That's despite a threat on Trump's life from Iran leading to additional security for the former president in the days before the July 13 rally.

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