Rally security failure has Secret Service at odds with its local law enforcement allies

CNN —

The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump – the worst security failure by the US Secret Service in four decades – has pitted the agency against local law enforcement as both say the other was responsible for securing the building where the gunman perched.

The public discrepancy is a significant departure from a normally close and successful relationship between the Secret Service and local police and could lead to an erosion of trust that further stresses security operations.

United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle looks on during a press conference at the Secret Service's Chicago Field Office on June 4 2024 in Chicago, Illinois, ahead of the 2024 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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With responsibility for a long list of protectees as well as occasional foreign dignitaries, the Secret Service handles thousands of trips requiring protection – a massive burden that demands assistance from local law enforcement.

In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said local police were inside the building at the time of the shooting, and that it was their role to secure the building roughly 120 to 150 meters away yet outside the hard perimeter and with a line of sight to the rally stage.

“There was local police in that building – there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building,” Cheatle said.

A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that snipers were stationed inside the building. The local sniper team, which hailed from