Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday demanded the U.S. Secret Service increase the level of security provided to former President Donald Trump to that of a sitting president, calling the second attempt to assassinate the former president, which happened on Sunday in Florida, an “unfathomable and unacceptable” development for the agency.
Blackburn revealed her demand in a letter to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, who began leading the agency following the resignation of former director Kimberly Cheatle as the agency’s shortcomings during the first assassination attempt were revealed.
The senator affirmed she is “thankful that the perpetrator was unsuccessful and that the Secret Service agent acted swiftly,” but said it is “unfathomable and unacceptable that this incident occurred.”
Blackburn demanded of Rowe, “I urge you to immediately elevate President Trump’s security detail to the same level of protection that the Secret Service provides to a sitting President of the United States.”
The lower protection status afforded to Trump since leaving the White House was also highlighted by Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who noted Trump’s status in a press conference.
“The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight,” said Bradshaw, before adding, “And at this level that he is at right now, he’s not the sitting president.”
Blackburn then noted statements made about Secret Service in the wake of the first, July 13 attempt to assassinate Trump.
She noted, after the first assassination attempt, Rowe stated his desire to “implement meaningful change” at Secret Service, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “enhanced” Trump’s protection, but argued the actions were “still not enough to prevent an unimaginable second assassination attempt.”
The senator wrote, “That meaningful change is long overdue, and you must immediately increase President Trump’s Secret Service protection to that of a sitting president.”
Alleged gunman Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested on Sunday and charged on Monday with federal gun crimes after Secret Service claimed it spotted a rifle along the fence of Trump’s property. It is claimed Routh immediately fled the scene, leaving in a black SUV, before being apprehended by law enforcement.
Questions were immediately raised about how Routh was able to get within 500 yards of the former president.
It has since been revealed Routh has a Biden-Harris campaign sticker on his vehicle, repeatedly donated using the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, and traveled to Ukraine in a purported bid to recruit international soldiers to the nation’s Foreign Legion and to attract civilian supporters for the country’s defensive war.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sen. Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
