Carbondale Reporter

U.S. Representative Mike Bost discussed a task force report in an October 21 Facebook post, stating, "The deeply concerning findings point to serious security failures by the Secret Service, including bad planning, poor coordination with local law enforcement, and major communication failures."

"Today, House Republicans on the task force investigating the assassination attempt on President Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania, released their interim report," said Bost, according to Facebook. "The deeply concerning findings point to serious security failures by the Secret Service, including bad planning, poor coordination with local law enforcement, and major communication failures. These failures allowed the attacker to remain undetected for hours before firing at President Trump and innocent rallygoers. It's clear that changes must be made to make sure something like this never happens again."

According to Bost's Facebook post, he shared a link to the interim staff report titled "Investigating the Stunning Security Failures on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania" by the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump. The task force was led by Chairman Mike Kelly and Ranking Member Jason Crow and conducted its investigation over two months. The report is based on information from various sources, including witness testimony and briefings from the Secret Service (USSS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It also includes 23 voluntary transcribed witness interviews from state and local law enforcement and documents obtained from federal, state, and local agencies.

Screenshot of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost's Oct. 21 Facebook post | U.S. Rep. Mike Bost's Facebook page

"Although the findings in this report are preliminary," says the Executive Summary of the report, "the information obtained during the first phase of the Task Force’s investigation clearly shows a lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners before the rally." The summary further notes that USSS did not provide clear guidance to relevant state and local agencies about managing areas outside the secure event perimeter. Additionally, there was no joint meeting on the day of the rally between USSS and all state and local law enforcement agencies assisting USSS.

The report highlights that snipers at American Glass Research (AGR) property were not required to secure rooftops but were instead positioned inside buildings. This arrangement failed to monitor where Thomas Matthew Crooks positioned himself that day. Furthermore, it states that law enforcement could have engaged Crooks at critical moments but did not due to fractured communication lines leading to Crooks firing at both stage and crowd.

Bost has been serving as Illinois’ 12th District representative since January 6, 2015. He has two decades of experience in the Illinois State House of Representatives where he served as House Republican Caucus Chair. A lifelong resident of Murphysboro and former U.S. Marine Corps member from 1979-1982, Bost worked for 24 years at Bost Trucking Service as a driver and truck manager before joining Murphysboro Fire Department after graduating from University of Illinois’ Certified Firefighter II Academy in 1993.