Donald Trump has been given upgraded Secret Service protection following the attempt on his life on Saturday. He will now receive the same level of protection afforded to sitting presidents. He previously received a lesser level of protection afforded to former presidents and major party presidential candidates, says the New York Post. Many questions have been raised about, and criticism aimed at, the Secret Service’s failure to prevent the attack on Trump in Butler PA, when Thomas Mathew Crooks fired a reported eight shots as he lay on the roof of a building 130 yards from Trump. Multiple news outlets, including Blaze Media, are reporting Crooks was spotted on the roof about half an hour before the shots rang out. “Multiple sources said Thomas Matthew Crooks had been spotted on the roof near the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at about 5:45 p.m. by one of the members of the Emergency Services Unit of Beaver County,” says Blaze. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper even before Trump was hustled off the stage. CNN reported on Tuesday, a source recently told US authorities about a plot by Iran to attempt assassinating Trump, which led to “the Secret Service increasing security around the former president in recent weeks, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.” “Secret Service officials have warned the Trump campaign repeatedly against holding outdoor rallies, which pose greater risks than events to which the agency can better control access, people briefed on the matter said,” reports CNN. “The warnings have been more general in nature, the sources said.” “At one point during this election cycle, the campaign stopped holding spontaneous off-the-record events where guests weren’t swept by Secret Service beforehand due to security concerns,” according to a source, said CNN. .On Monday, Trump demanded that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection, calling it the “right thing to do,” reports the Post. “In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection — immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!” he added. Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, and his father, then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, was fatally shot in 1968. Others were also calling for Kennedy Jr. to receive Secret Service protection in the aftermath of Trump being shot, including Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) who, on Sunday, said they planned to introduce bipartisan legislation that would provide “enhanced Secret Service protection” to Kennedy Jr., Trump and President Biden. “Anything less would be a disservice to our democracy,” they said in a statement. Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has also urged Biden to grant Kennedy Jr.’s request for protection. “I encourage [Biden] to immediately provide secret service protection for [Kennedy Jr.]” Polis wrote on X Saturday. Kennedy has repeatedly asked for Secret Service protection, since launching his bid for the White House, first as a Democrat and later as an independent, but he has repeatedly been denied by President Joe Biden. That changed on Monday, after Trump’s post. “President Biden has dropped months of resistance and agreed to grant Secret Service protection to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump,” reports the Post, adding Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the move at the regular White House press briefing Monday. “In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr,” Mayorkas said. According to the Post, a protective intelligence assessment conducted by the Secret Service and obtained by Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group, last September showed that the agency determined Kennedy Jr., was at an elevated “risk for adverse attention” but still denied him a protective security detail. “The Secret Service is authorized to protect major presidential and vice-presidential candidates, identified as such by the secretary of Homeland Security, within 120 days of a presidential election,” says the Post.
