Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, alongside other senior officials and agency leaders, have issued a joint statement firmly defending female Secret Service agents during the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The attempted assassination of former President Trump has raised questions about how 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to position himself on a rooftop with a clear line of sight to the former president, whose ear was injured by a bullet.
The shooting brought the Secret Service director’s stated interest in hiring more women into the spotlight.
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An array of commentators, including some Republican lawmakers, focused explicitly on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at the Secret Service, claiming that such programs have undermined its mission.
Ms. Boebert’s bill would prohibit “any federal funds from being used to pay the salary or expenses” of Ms. Cheatle.
Earlier in the week, the Secret Service’s chief of communication, Anthony Guglielmi, called out the “baseless assertions” that agents are unqualified.
“As an elite law enforcement agency, all of our agents and officers are highly trained and fully capable of performing our missions,” Mr. Guglielmi said in a statement provided to some news outlets. “It is an insult to the women of our agency to imply that they are unqualified based on gender. Such baseless assertions undermine the professionalism, dedication and expertise of our workforce.”
The Saturday statement from Mr. Mayorkas and other top DHS officials appeared to focus most acutely on the line of criticism against women being on the front lines in the Secret Service.
“Every single day, in communities big and small across our great country, women are serving in federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement,” the joint statement reads. “They are highly trained and skilled professionals, who risk their lives on the front lines for the safety and security of others. They are brave and selfless patriots who deserve our gratitude and respect.”
Mr. Mayorkas and the other officials added that DHS will continue to recruit, retain, and elevate women in our law enforcement ranks and take “great pride” in doing so.
Former President Trump has thanked the agents who were at the rally and praised members of the security team.
“They did a fantastic job,” he told the New York Post on Sunday. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
The former president’s son, Eric Trump, went further, offering praise for the female agents in particular.
“I know all those agents on stage and they’re the greatest people ever,” Eric Trump told MSNBC on July 16. “The female that’s in the picture, she was with me for a very long time and she’s one of the greatest human beings you would ever meet.”
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