The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was the biggest mistake in decades in the Secret Service's history, admits the police organization's chief Kimberly Cheatle.
On July 13, we made a mistake, said Cheatle during a first hearing in Congress on Monday.
We will investigate how this could happen, and we will take measures to ensure it never happens again, she added.
The Secret Service has been criticized for how the shooter was able to get so close to Trump, and several members of Congress have demanded that the organization's chief resign. The Secret Service has, however, announced that Cheatle does not intend to resign.
Takes full responsibility
Cheatle says she simultaneously takes full responsibility for the mistake at Trump's campaign meeting near Butler in Pennsylvania on July 13.
The Secret Service was informed about a suspected person "two to five times" before the shooting, according to her. The roof, from which the shooter fired, had also been identified as a possible weak point days before the campaign meeting.
If the agents had assessed that there was a real threat, the meeting would have been cancelled. But there is a difference between someone being identified as suspected and being a real threat, according to the Secret Service chief. Why the roof was left unguarded will be shown by the investigation, was the response when she was pressed on that point.
Apologized to Trump
Cheatle says she apologized to Trump after the incident.
The police organization had previously denied Trump extended protection at his campaign meetings, something his campaign organization had requested.
Trump was hit in the right ear during the assassination attempt. One spectator was killed and two were injured. The 20-year-old shooter, who fired his weapon from a rooftop and whose motives are still unclear, was shot dead by the police.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump is the most serious attempt on the life of an American president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
