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BREAKING: Secret Service DECLINED Drones From Local Law Enforcement For Trump Rally

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5 months ago

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On Thursday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) revealed that a whistleblower has alleged the U.S. Secret Service declined offers from local law enforcement to utilize drone technology prior to a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The rally, for former President Donald Trump, later became the site of the assassination attempt by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks.

The senator’s office received whistleblower allegations indicating that the night before the rally, the Secret Service was repeatedly offered the use of drones by local law enforcement partners. In a detailed letter addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Hawley demanded answers and more transparency from the department, after the critical lapse in security preparations.

The letter comes just a day after FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed in his testimony that Crooks used a drone to survey the rally site hours before the attack. “This technology was not only available but was also capable of being deployed to secure the site,” wrote Hawley in his letter. Despite this, the offers were declined, only for the Secret Service to request the deployment of drone technology in the aftermath of the shooting.

“This means that the technology was both available to USSS and able to be deployed to secure the sight,” Hawley wrote. “The failure to deploy drone technology is all the more concerning since, according to the whistleblower, the drones offered had the capability not only to identify active shooters but also to help neutralize them.”

“Why was the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) not using its own drones?” the senator questioned, pointing out the dire consequences of the agency’s decision to refuse external help. In his plea for accountability and answers, Hawley requested that the Department of Homeland Security provide “all records and communications concerning the availability or use of drones at the July 13, 2024 rally in Butler, PA.” Furthermore, he insisted that Secretary Mayorkas testify before Congress to address these “staggering security failures.”

The near-fatal incident on July 13 saw Trump turn slightly to read a chart, dodging the bullet by a mere quarter of an inch. The shot, fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks’ AR-15-style rifle, tragically struck and killed Corey Comperatore, a former firefighter chief and devoted father and husband, who heroically shielded his family from the bullet. Two other bystanders were critically injured in the chaos.

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New legislation has since been introduced that would mandate the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to declassify pivotal information related to the assassination attempt and the shooter’s motives. Hawley is set to introduce the “Trump Assassination Attempt Transparency Act,” a bill aimed at compelling the federal government to declassify all details concerning the incident.

“We need the truth about the assassination attempt against President Trump,” Hawley told Fox News in a statement today. “We can’t let the federal government hide behind the ‘classified’ label. “This investigation must be done out in the open for the American people to see – no more stonewalling, no more evading questions. Time for accountability.”

The bill calls for intelligence agencies to compile and present a detailed report to Congress on their findings, following Trump’s repeated pleas for additional resources. If passed, this legislation could peel back layers of secrecy surrounding national security incidents and potentially reform how intelligence is handled and shared at the highest levels. The repercussions of the assassination attempt led to the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle. She stepped down just a day after facing bipartisan fury during her testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

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