Former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Secret Service confirmed to Fox News that the suspensions went into effect in February and that no agents had been fired.
The agency faced harsh scrutiny in the aftermath of the ambush, where 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight bullets at Trump from a rooftop during a campaign rally on July 13, 2024. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear, and the gunman killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, father and husband attending the rally. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Bill Gage, who served as a Secret Service special agent for former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital that the attempted assassination served as a wake-up call for the agency – bringing about overdue changes to the Secret Service.
Specifically, Gage said the incident prompted the Secret Service to "create new divisions, new units to counter modern threats, and gave the agency a real focus."
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe testifies before a Senate hearing examining the security failures leading to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, July 30, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Other potential changes in the works include constructing a precise replica of the White House, instead of using Tyler Perry’s White House replica at his Atlanta film studio as agents historically have done.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in an April interview with Fox News’ "My View with Lara Trump" that the agency is coordinating with the White House to build the replica at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Laurel, Maryland.
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Gage called it "inexcusable" that a replica of the White House didn’t already exist and said even more value should be placed on training.
"The service should really focus on training," Gage said. "There needs to be an increased mindset for training, where training is viewed as just as important as your assigned shift."
Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/secret-service-changes-agency-has-made-post-trump-butler-assassination-attempt