Former Navy SEAL Erik Prince criticized the Secret Service after a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, highlighting shocking security failures that allowed the shooter to get dangerously close. He pointed out that Trump’s survival was due to bad luck rather than effective protection, as the assassin had a clear shot from just 140 yards away. Despite warnings from witnesses who saw the shooter climbing a rooftop, the Secret Service reportedly failed to secure the area properly, raising serious questions about their competence. As calls for accountability grow, the incident exposes troubling lapses in security that could have had catastrophic consequences.
Following the unsuccessful attempt on the life of former President Trump, Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater and a former Navy Seal, provided a thorough analysis of yesterday’s disaster involving the Secret Service.
“Hopefully after the tragedy yesterday in Butler PA we can all recognize that unaccountable bloated bureaucracies continue to fail us as Americans,” Prince wrote on X.
Continuing:
Donald J Trump is alive today solely due to a bad wind estimate by an evil would be assasin [sic].
The full-value wind of only 5 mph was sufficient, as the graphics demonstrate, to push the unidentified but probably light 55-grain bullet two inches from DJT’s intended forehead to his ear.
DJT was not spared by the genius of USSS. Either blatant incompetence or malice prevailed when the USSS permitted a gunman with a rifle to get within 150 yards of a scheduled event. It was obvious that there was enough unmanaged dead area for a gunman to take aim and fire several times. The relatively small delay between the boom of the muzzle blast (sonic) and the crack of the arriving bullet (supersonic) in the newsreel makes it easy to determine how close the shooter is.
Instead of carrying out his duty of taking out the shooter, the law enforcement sniper (unclear if USSS) in newsreels was obviously overwhelmed. His face fell off his rifle. They were undoubtedly observing the gunman, but it looks like they had a “first shot” policy. The assassin was dispatched by a single USSS sniper firing at least five bullets, wounding DJT, and gravely injuring several others in the crowd. This was the sole action that went well.
In my previous company, which provided diplomatic security in two active combat zones, we had to meet minimum performance standards or risk termination. When shots were fired, USSS failed at the fundamentals of maintaining a secure perimeter. Their awkward extraction left DJT vulnerable to more attacks. The way those responses were going, it appeared as though they had never drilled together. Will someone be held accountable? The Washington way is not like that.
We were this close to tragedy because of dishonorable and unworthy individuals in positions of power. Hiring and leadership decisions should only be made based on merit and execution, not on the prevailing social engineering agenda. Sadly, nothing about Washington today reflects that. DJT is justified in doubting the skill of those defending him, as they almost failed yesterday. Naturally, a vacuum is hated and there are always alternatives.
Above all, let’s unite as Americans and conduct a legitimate election so that we may return to a merit-based society that makes decisions based on aptitude and character. Nothing more.
(Photos courtesy of Red Sky LLC’s SEAL sniper instructor)
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It’s difficult to understand how Thomas Matthew Crooks, the named suspected suspect in the Donald Trump assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, failed when considering the circumstances surrounding his case. It appears that nearly all Secret Service security procedures were disregarded, giving Crooks unfettered access to an ideal shooting vantage point and plenty of time to get a bead on Trump’s podium.
Crooks’s rooftop was only 140 yards from the action, and it was directly in front of Trump to the right. Anyone familiar with precision shooting knows that a rifleman with minimal training can consider any shot inside 300 yards to be easy. An expert can reliably strike a target the size of their torso at 1000 yards or more with the correct caliber. Even without a magnifying optic, a novice should have no trouble hitting a pie plate-sized target at 140 yards.
All evident “sniper perches” should be secured by the Secret Service well in advance of the protectee’s arrival. This means that surrounding rooftops and buildings should have security personnel on duty in addition to drone observation. It doesn’t seem like this was done in Butler, Pennsylvania. Only the building directly behind the venue stage had SS snipers on it.
The would-be assassin was able to boldly go to the area and climb to the rooftop with his weapon in broad daylight because there was no security presence at the building across the field. When setting up a site for protection, the SS typically employs concentric “circles of security” that extend hundreds or even thousands of yards. See how thorough the Secret Service is expected to be when setting up a location to thwart assassination attempts by watching the video below.
It seems inconceivable that Crooks, occupying a high position on the stage, could have been able to approach that near. The absence of any visual barriers placed close to the stage was another mistake. The purpose of the barricades that the Secret Service is intended to install is to prevent visibility from possible shooting sites. It was not done, once more.
And lastly, the pitiful delay in response time. Witnesses outside the gathering claim to have seen Thomas Crooks take his rifle up to the building’s rooftop at least three minutes before he opened fire. They said they made unsuccessful attempts to alert Secret Service personnel and police.
“How could you have somebody on the rooftop?” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise – a victim of political violence, after the shooting. “There are reports that people watched him climb up the roof and even alerted authorities, and we’re going to be looking into that.“
James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, on Saturday night sought an explanation from the Secret Service about why it was unable to stop the attempted assassination.
“I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing,” Comer stated on X. “An official invitation will be sent out shortly by the Oversight Committee. Americans want answers to a lot of questions.
Just the News points out that there were red flags regarding the Secret Service months prior to the attempted assassination of President Trump.
Back in May, Congress requested a briefing with the Secret Service, after several incidents allegedly raised internal concerns over the quality of its trainings.
A petition within the Secret Service has reportedly been circulating because of the incidents and called for a congressional investigation into the agency, according to Comer.
One incident saw a Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris allegedly attack her superior and other agents. The unnamed agent also exhibited other “concerning” behavior, according to her colleagues.
Fortunately for Trump, Crooks appears to have had poor aim, and he was foolish enough not to fire from a covered position, which would have given him additional time and safety. Sadly, at least three civilians in the throng were struck by the gunman’s stray shots, leaving one of them dead and the other two critically injured. The level of security lapse in this instance is so great that ex-Secret Service personnel are openly acknowledging it and demanding an inquiry into how this could have occurred.
It’s still unclear why Thomas Crooks did what he did. The 20-year-old Bethel Park resident reportedly registered to vote as a Republican in 2021, but he also made donations to ActBlue and the Progressive Turnout Project, two groups run by Democrats.
Just two weeks ago, we issued a warning about the growing violence in Democratic discourse following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s prosecution immunity. In reaction to the decision, several Democratic lawmakers and activists publicly declared that Trump could—or ought to—be killed. Even while it had nothing to do with the attempted shooting, the media’s scare tactics on the “imminent destruction of Democracy” if Trump wins don’t help. Many people continue to claim on social media that the shooting was “staged” in the wake of the abortive assassination, while others lament that the gunman failed to hit his target.
Whatever one’s feelings toward Trump, this kind of political hate speech ought to be regarded as toxic. Future acts of violence are the only thing it can lead to. Once more, the gunman was given every chance; Democrats came dangerously close to achieving their long-held goals.
Explore exclusive GGI coverage of Donald Trump’s assassination attempt.
