Secret Service missed 102 radio alerts before Butler rally shooting

The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general revealed that the agency received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks, failing to bridge the gap with local law enforcement who were actively tracking him. This communication breakdown allowed the gunman to access a rooftop with a clear line of sight to the stage. Beyond the radio silence, the report highlights a critical failure in technical surveillance: the Secret Service’s counter-drone system was inoperable during the event. A single undertrained operator spent hours attempting to fix the equipment while Crooks conducted a nine-minute drone flight over the rally site completely undetected.

In response to these findings, the Secret Service stated it concurs with the inspector general’s recommendations and has already integrated many of the suggested reforms into its operational protocols. This report marks the latest in a series of investigations exposing systemic vulnerabilities in the agency’s security planning for the rally, where the gunman killed one bystander and wounded the former president before being neutralized by law enforcement.