By Steve Neavling
Members of a local SWAT team who were assigned to protect former President Trump during an assassination attempt on July 13 said they had no contact with Secret Service agents before the shooting occurred.
“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” Jason Woods, lead sharpshooter on the SWAT team in Beaver County, told ABC News.
“So I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened,” Woods said. “We had no communication.”
According to Woods, the failure to communicate likely marked the beginning of a series of errors that allowed a 20-year-old gunman to open fire before the Secret Service killed him.
The security lapses led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
While the Secret Service was ultimately responsible for Trump’s safety, the agency relies on local police for help.
A Secret Service spokesman declined to respond to the comments from the local SWAT team, but said the agency “is committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure that never happens again. That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI and other relevant investigations.”
Woods said he was surprised there wasn’t more communication between agencies. When communication finally did occur, it wasn’t “until after the shooting.” By then, he said, “it was too late.”
