In an emailed statement to The Dallas Express, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said he was “appalled” by the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
“The violence is unacceptable and has no place in our country. We are grateful former President Trump was not seriously injured. Our hearts are with those injured on Saturday and with the family and friends of Corey Comperatore, who tragically lost his life,” the police chief said.
Garcia’s statement came less than two days after Thomas Matthews Crooks, 20, shot Trump in the right ear just seconds before he was killed by a U.S. Secret Service sniper.
Crooks’ ability to scale a building and position himself on a sloped rooftop just outside the site perimeter with a clear line of sight of the former president has brought significant scrutiny of the Secret Service and its handling of Trump’s security.
On Tuesday, CNN called the attempted assassination “the worst security failure by the U.S. Secret Service in four decades,” prompting a blame game between federal agents and local police in Butler, Pennsylvania. But Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the news outlet that officers on the ground acted appropriately.
“Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, state, or federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump,” Yoes said. “They acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone at the event, and we must recognize that. This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event.”
As previously reported by DX, calls have been mounting for Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle to resign. Some observers speculate that her commitment to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies may have contributed to the historic day’s events.
Garcia informed DX that he was working with the federal government to find ways to avoid a similar incident from ever occurring in Dallas again. Notably, the city is widely known for being where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
“We have been in communication with our federal partners to ascertain exactly what occurred and what can be done better to help avoid such a tragedy from happening in the future. We are fortunate to have a tremendous relationship with our federal partners, and we will continue to work closely together,” Garcia said.
On social media, Dallas officials and others have been mostly quiet about the attempt on Trump’s life, The Dallas Express has reported. The news outlet again asked Dallas City Council members to comment on the historic event but received no response by publication time.