The Secret Service is facing intense backlash following Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Videos of the event show several female secret service agents, small in stature compared to their male counterparts, surrounding the president just after the shooting, which resulted in Trump taking a bullet to the ear, two attendees suffering critical injuries and one dying, along with the shooter, per the Associated Press.
One shocking photograph taken at the time of the shooting shows one of the female agents cowering behind Trump as other agents circle around to protect him.
How does this f***king person still able to have a job as secret service!!!? pic.twitter.com/sWksUbwpMi
— Luke Rudkowski (@Lukewearechange) July 14, 2024
Another video taken just after the shooting shows that same female agent — who does not appear to be in peak physical condition — fumbling to holster her weapon as Trump is escorted into a vehicle.
Absolute humiliation for this gaggle of female Secret Service Agents.
Look at the disorder:
– Can’t holster weapons
– Gear falling to the ground
– Erratic, fearful movements
– No show of force, composureDEI Secret Service make Presidents LESS Safepic.twitter.com/o6HcHzxEUw
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 14, 2024
Soon after the shooting occurred, many online began questioning the priorities of Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle.
Before her appointment to the Secret Service, Cheatle was the Senior Director in Global Security at PepsiCo, and before that, she served in the Office of Protective Operations in the Secret Service.
According to Cheatle’s official profile, her chief achievement as the 27th Director of the U.S. Secret Service has been “executing the agency’s integrated mission of protection and investigations by leading a diverse workforce …”
Another CBS News interview that has since gone viral revealed one of Cheatle’s primary goals as acting director — to have 30 percent female Secret Service recruits by 2030.
Director of Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle said she’s aiming to make the Secret Service more diverse and hire more women.
This female agent couldn’t even holster her gun today during the attempted ass*ss*nat*on of Trump.
DEI hire?? pic.twitter.com/0tgBZqXstC
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 14, 2024
Other reports from Friday’s shooting indicate that multiple attendees adamantly warned law enforcement and security officials about the shooter before the shooting took place, to no avail.
“I’m standing there pointing at him for two to three minutes. Secret Service is looking at us,” one witness told a BBC reporter.
“Next thing you know, five shots rang out.”
According to NBC News, Republican House Oversight Chair James Comer asked Cheatle to testify at a July 22 hearing.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is also demanding a “full investigation” into possible “lapses in security.”