Editorial: 'Unacceptable' is an understatement regarding security failures at Butler rally

Members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security did something Monday that lawmakers rarely do.

They did not meet in a formal room, sitting at glossy wood desks, perched behind nameplates underscoring their importance to a political process.

Instead, a group of lawmakers from both parties went into the field to get answers instead of asking for someone to bring the answers to Capitol Hill. This meant the group was able to see things firsthand instead of through a veil of interpretation and the performative partisan posturing a congressional committee hearing often becomes.

What they saw was the Butler Farm Show grounds where an assassination attempt unfolded July 13.

Members of the committee climbed to the top of the building where Thomas Crooks took his AR-15 and fired at former President and GOP nominee Donald Trump. They saw the line of sight from that roof to the place Trump was speaking about 150 yards away.

“What happened here last week was unacceptable,” U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said.

It was possibly the greatest understatement ever. Trump had an injury to his ear that was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital. That was the headline event for most of the world.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, the story is more personal. It is the death of Corey Comperatore, 50, of Buffalo Township. It is the serious injuries to David Dutch, 57, of Plum and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon — both still hospitalized.

All of it is unacceptable.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle agreed Monday as she faced a different panel — the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

“We failed,” she said.

Yes, they did. The questions that remain are just how the failure occurred and how many people are responsible. How much blame will be laid at the feet of Butler Township police or county sheriffs? How much will fall on the Pennsylvania State Police? And how much will be directed to the Secret Service — the agency ultimately responsible for protection of Trump as both a former president and a current nominee?

On Tuesday, Cheatle resigned.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she wrote to her staff in an email, according to the Associated Press.

The most surprising thing about the resignation is that it took 10 days to happen. There are two things that have to happen now.

The investigations into exactly what went wrong in Butler must continue because Cheatle’s resignation is appropriate but incomplete. She took responsibility as the head of the agency, but she wasn’t the one at the scene allowing events to occur.

And, while President Joe Biden has said he will appoint a new director, no timeline has been given.

The Secret Service provides protection for 36 individuals, plus visiting world leaders, Cheatle told the committee. That includes the president, vice president, five former presidents and four first ladies. The next three months will be a juggernaut of campaign appearances just like the Butler rally.

If there were failures with someone in charge, the situation is unlikely to improve with no one holding the reins.