Bodycam footage from July 13, 2024, captures the sound of sirens screaming following the assassination attempt against Donald Trump and the voice of a Butler, Pennsylvania, officer saying, “I f*cking told [the Secret Service] they need to post a guy f*cking over here,” adding that he did so five days before the shooting.
The bodycam footage, released by CNN, captures the hectic moments after the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
A local officer is pacing in frustration and can be heard saying, “I f*cking told them that they needed to post guys f*cking over here.”
Another officer responds to him, asking, “Told who?”
The local officer said, “The Secret Service, I told them that f*cking Tuesday.”
Someone responded, “I thought you guys were supposed to do it.”
The local officer answered, “No, we’re inside.”
He added, “I told them to post f*cking guys over here.”
🚨 Butler Police officer on Body Cam:
“I f*cking told them that they needed to post guys f*cking over here…I told them that f*cking Tuesday.. I talked to the Secret Service guys. They’re like, ‘Yeah, no problem. We’re going to post guys over here.” pic.twitter.com/sDhlnvLbst
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 9, 2024
Throughout the back and forth talk on the bodycam, it was clear that some officers did not worry about certain locations because they thought other officers were there or, as obvious from the Butler, Pennsylvania, officer, they had purportedly warned the Secret Service to be there.
On July 16, 2024–three days after the assassination attempt–Breitbart News spoke with sources who criticized the Secret Service’s supplemental approach to protection details following the attempt on Trump’s life.
The sources indicated that protective details for a former president are not anywhere as extensive as the details that protect a sitting president. Because of this, when a former president travels or holds rallies, such as the one Trump was holding that Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service uses “supplemental” protective personnel to fill the gaps that exist in the existing protective structure.
One source explained that this means the Secret Secret relies on using other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents for protection, as well as local police and/or local advanced units and advanced unit personnel. While DHS agents used by Secret Service may be excellent at the jobs for which they are trained, the source noted that protective detail work is not what they are trained to do.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.