The head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who came under criticism after the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, has resigned. On Tuesday, she drew the consequences of the assassination attempt on July 13. US President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her decades of work for the agency and announced an imminent succession plan. Cheatle admitted on Monday that the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting current and former presidents, had “failed” in the assassination attempt on Trump.
During her nearly 30-year career in the Secret Service, Cheatle “selflessly dedicated herself to protecting our nation and risked her life,” Biden said. “We all know that what happened that day must never happen again,” he added, referring to July 13. He will soon fill the agency’s leadership position.
At a hearing before a committee in the US Congress on Monday, Cheatle spoke of the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” with regard to the assassination attempt on Trump. As head of the agency, she takes “full responsibility for any security breach”.
Cheatle has faced calls for her resignation from both Democrats and Republicans since the assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign rally in the town of Butler. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, described Cheatle’s resignation on Tuesday as “overdue”. She should have done so “at least a week ago,” said the Republican.
Trump barely survived the assassination attempt on July 13th, he was hit by a bullet in his right ear. One man in the audience was killed, two other participants in the rally were seriously injured. The suspected perpetrator, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper – 26 seconds after he fired the first shots at Trump.
Immediately after the assassination, questions were raised as to how Crooks had been able to position himself with his weapon on a roof just 150 meters away from Trump.
Cheatle was appointed head of the Secret Service by US President Joe Biden in 2022. She had previously worked for the agency for 27 years before becoming the interim head of security for the North American region for the beverage company PepsiCo in 2021.
