Months before the Secret Service apparently missed a gunman on a rooftop and a female agent was seen on video struggling to put her gun in her holster after Donald Trump was shot, there were indications that the Biden administration’s focus on identity politics had undermined competence at the protective agency.
Biden appointed Kimberly A. Cheatle as director; the second link on the agency’s website, after “Leadership,” is now “Diversity.” A focus for Cheatle has been getting more female officers, which she says are underrepresented—which has historically been the case because they are smaller and less able to defend the president.
In April, a female agent allegedly attacked her own supervisor in a mental breakdown, Real Clear Politics reported at the time. Michelle Herczeg was relieved from duties defending Vice President Kamala Harris after she “snapped” while at Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One and Air Force Two travel from.
She “began mumbling to herself, hid behind curtains, and started throwing items, including menstrual pads, at an agent.”
“Herczeg also screamed at the special agent in charge (SAIC), rattling off the names of female officers on the vice president’s detail and claiming they would show up and help her and allow her to continue working,” Real Clear Politics reported.
Then she “snapped entirely,” as one source put it. “Herczeg then chest-bumped and shoved her superior, then tackled him and punched him. The agents involved in restraining Herczeg were especially concerned because she still had her gun in the holster. They wrestled her to the ground, took the gun from her, cuffed her, and then removed her from the terminal,” the story said.
The April incident led Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service officer and Republican, to react: “Someone is going to get killed.”
The Secret Service did not show up to a press conference Saturday night on the assassination attempt. At the press conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek acknowledged it was “surprising” that the shooter managed to plant himself on a rooftop and get off several shots before being stopped by the agency. He said the Secret Service “needs to answer that question.”
Video after the shooting shows numerous female Secret Service agents struggling in a crowd filled with larger men. One fumbles with her gun, while another adjusts her sunglasses.
In 2017, a Secret Service agent lost her job after stating on social media that she “wouldn’t take a bullet” for Trump, who at the time was a candidate for office.
In May of last year, Cheatle stated goals to have 30% female recruits by 2030. “I’m very conscious as I sit in this chair now, of making sure that we need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce, and particularly women,” Cheatle said.
The Secret Service currently has an “Inclusion and Engagement Council” that is tasked to “build, foster, create and inspire a workforce where diversity and inclusion are not just ‘talked about’ but demonstrated by all employees through ‘Every Action, Every Day.’”
Security experts are calling into question whether Secret Service did all it could to secure the event where Trump was shot. Video of the incident suggests that counter-snipers had their sights on the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, before he opened fire on Trump.
The Secret Service is pushing back on reports that Trump’s team had a request for additional security denied.
“Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed,” the spokesman posted to social media on Sunday morning. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
