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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her position on Tuesday, July 23, ten days after a fatal shooting at a Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13, that left one man dead and two others in critical condition, CNBC reported. Trump himself was also injured in the shooting, suffering a wound to his ear.
According to CNBC, Cheatle, who served as senior director of global security for Purchase-headquartered PepsiCo from 2019 to 2022, submitted her resignation a day after House committee members criticized her at a hearing concerning the Secret Service's performance at the rally before the shooting.
Although she refused to resign at the hearing, she later wrote a letter to Secret Service staff reported by the outlet: "In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director."
"The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission," the letter continued, also reading, "As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse."
CNBC also reported a statement given by House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer saying that the panel would still demand "more accountability" from the Secret Service following the shooting.
"While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a full review of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward," Comer said.
According to the outlet, Cheatle was criticized for not putting a sniper on the roof used by the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, which was in view of rally audience members who told authorities about what he had been doing. Cheatle attributed the decision to safety concerns because the roof was "sloped," the outlet reported.
Click here to read the full report by CNBC.
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