POLITICS

How many Secret Service bodyguards are at Donald Trump’s rallies on a regular basis?

Donald Trump, like all former presidents has Secret Service protection. His case though is special in that he is also a presidential candidate again.

Brendan McDermidREUTERS

Former President Donald Trump was shot during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. A bullet grazed him in the ear before numerous Secret Service agents rushed to cover him as shots continued to sound.

Like all former presidents nowadays, Trump has Secret Service protection for life. However, his situation is different in that he is also running for president once again.

How many Secret Service bodyguards are at Donald Trump’s rallies on a regular basis?

Even on a normal day Trump has a motorcade that can number over a dozen vehicles. “Former President Trump has been out of office, relatively speaking, for a short amount of time, so the threats against him are still pretty high,” according to Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent who has worked on presidential details.

In addition to the Secret Service detail which can include the main transport vehicle, a spare vehicle and tactical elements, there are also those of local law enforcement. And then “there are protective intelligence agents, supervisory agents, extra agents in case there is an [unexpected] stop requested by the protectee and usually an ambulance,” he told Roll Call.

While this is what his protective detail is when he’s on the move, when he is at one of his rallies, which can have tens of thousands of attendees, even more additional agents are needed. Wackrow did not give an exact number that such a detail would be made up of and the agency does not have publicly available information.

Former President Donald Trump is assisted by U.S. Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania.Brendan McDermidREUTERS

The shooter, it appears, was able to evade detection from the numerous security forces that were protecting Trump at Saturday’s rally by climbing up a roof out of sight. An eyewitness told the BBC that from where he was standing he and his friends could see the individual bear crawling up the backside of a building and they tried to get the attention of law enforcement near them.

They also signalled to Secret Service snipers that were perched atop a barn, but he believes that from their angle they could not see the individual until he was in position to shoot.

He got off several rounds before he was neutralized. But that wasn’t before he hit the former President, who “is safe,” and at least two other attending the rally. One was reportedly killed and another is in critical condition.

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