US Secret Service denies claims it refused more protection for Trump

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Shortly after, shots rang out and Trump slumped before being whisked away by Secret Service with injuries visible to the side of his head. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter and one audience member are dead and another was injured. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JEFF SWENSEN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

WASHINGTON, United States — The US Secret Service on Sunday denied claims that it had refused additional protection for Donald Trump ahead of his Pennsylvania campaign rally, where he was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on social media platform X that the assertions were “absolutely false,” adding that the agency had “added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”

The FBI identified the gunman, who was shot dead by the US Secret Service, as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from the US state’s Bethel Park, according to US media.