US Secret Service report highlights drone security gaps around Trump

11:00

By: Azzat Manal

US Secret Service report highlights drone security gaps around Trump

The US Secret Service did not consider civilian drones a significant threat to the safety of senior government officials until the 2024 assassination attempt against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, when a drone was used by the gunman to survey the area ahead of the attack.

A US government audit found that the Secret Service had been dealing with incidents involving civilian drones since at least 2015. One of the earliest documented cases occurred in Hawaii, when a drone came close to President Barack Obama’s motorcade. In 2016, another drone flew at an altitude of roughly 60 meters over people attending a campaign rally for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Several other quadcopters were also detected around the US Capitol during Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington in January 2021.

Despite these incidents, security regulations governing the protection of senior officials were not significantly revised to address the drone threat until after the 2024 attack on Trump, according to the audit.

The review also identified broader weaknesses in the regular updating of security procedures. Eight of the Secret Service’s 22 security regulations had not been reviewed within the required timeframe, even though the rules are supposed to be reassessed every four years. One regulation covering the international travel security of the US vice president had not been updated since July 2001.

Trump was targeted on July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet struck his ear, while one attendee was killed and two others were injured.

The Secret Service identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the gunman. He fired from the roof of a building outside the rally area and was killed at the scene by law enforcement.

According to the agency, Crooks had also used a drone to scout the area before the event. The aircraft was reportedly flown without being intercepted several hours before Trump took the stage, allowing the gunman to gather information about the rally site.

The findings have renewed scrutiny of how federal security agencies respond to the rapidly evolving risks posed by commercially available drones, particularly around political events and other locations where senior officials gather.