Agent shot during Reagan assassination attempt: Secret Service did ‘hell of a good job’ protecting Trump
A Secret Service agent shot during former President Reagan’s 1981 assassination attempt said Monday that law enforcement did a “hell of a good job” protecting the president during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooting on Saturday .
Reagan was targeted after leaving a speaking event at the Washington Hilton in 1981. The former president was ultimately struck by gunfire that ricocheted off the presidential limousine, piercing his underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing serious internal bleeding.
Former agent Tim McCarthy, White House press secretary James Brady, and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty were all wounded. Brady suffered permanent brain damage from his injuries.
“From what I can tell right now talking to my colleagues, it was handled pretty well. You never want something like this to happen. Security was tested, security responded, and at this point it did pretty well,” McCarthy said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “ NewsNation Live .”
“Tackled him before he even got to the stairs to even get close to coming down by the president. So, so far, based on what I know, I’m pretty satisfied with what the Secret Service did on this occasion,” he added.
McCarthy’s comments echo White House approval for the Secret Service’s swift evacuation of President Trump and Vice President Vance after shots were fired at the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is planning to hold a meeting with the White House operations team, the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security leadership to discuss protocol and practice for large events involving Trump.
“The response by the agents that took place appeared to be very good, but they’ll take a look at the advance itself. Is there anything further that could’ve been done? And I’ve heard talk, you know, that you should’ve shut the hotel down,” McCarthy said.
“Well, try finding a hotel with a ballroom if you’re going to shut down the hotel, because you’re not going to find one. No one’s going to want to do that,” he added.
The president suggested using the White House ballroom to host future dinners, but the space is not expected to be completed until 2028.
McCarthy lauded the fact that the Secret Service had more than three layers of security present for Saturday’s dinner and commended the agency for not allowing the threat to reach the same floor as the ballroom, where Trump was seated.
“I think we need to ratchet down the rhetoric just a little bit and give the Secret Service at the moment quite a bit of credit for doing a hell of a good job, along with their partners,” he added.
The suspected gunman, Cole Allen, was apprehended and remains in police custody. He’s expected to be arraigned on Monday afternoon on charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen has not been cooperating with law enforcement amid the investigation.
Updated at 1:46 p.m. EDT
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