Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
Former FBI agent Jerry Hester knows more than most about protecting prominent people from harm when they appear before crowds in public areas.
Hester, who was an FBI counter-terrorism specialist, is currently a security consultant with the National Football League, and is present at all Jacksonville Jaguar home games, serving in that capacity.
He is also the author of the recently published book “Mafia Miami,” (https://rowman.com) a true tale of an agency investigation he led that resulted in the breakup of an organized crime mob and the petty internal FBI politics he had to overcome. He was also called upon to help investigate the Parkland, Florida Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 students in February 2018.
Sunday, July 14, the day after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania Hester said that based on the reactions he observed there was very little coordination between the local police and the Secret Service.
“It was inexcusable that the shooter could get that close. When I saw the video of the shots I speculated that they came from outside the perimeter established by the Secret Service.”
He added that as an additional precaution that the venue for the Trump rally should have been locked down the night before like the NFL does for its games.
When asked how it was possible that a gun could have entered the rally area he responded that would have been difficult, since everyone entering the rally would certainly have had to be screened for weapons before entering. He speculated that “there was the possibility that someone could have been positioned outside the perimeter of the rally with a rifle, and then fired shots.” His suspicions were later confirmed.
“The embarrassing failure of allowing an armed 20-year-old with no military or law enforcement experience, to gain access and get off a shot at Trump, can only be surpassed by the recent revelation that the USSS knew about the shooter 26 minutes before the first shots were fired. How is this even possible? Let’s just pray that a thorough and independent investigation is completed, at some point, for the good of our country. We all need to know what happened and why.”
“Somebody should be held accountable,” added Hester who called for the firing of the U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. He joins a growing chorus of critics calling for the head of Cheatle, who formerly worked as head of security for PepsiCo. As former Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz says: “She was previously in charge of guarding Quacker Oats.”
Cheatle has been criticized for installing senseless woke DEI procedures including insisting that 30 percent of Secret Service agents be women. While he was being hustled off the stage by a phalanx of agents it was obvious to everyone watching that the two small women in the huddle were of little to no use in trying to protect the 6-foot 3-inch, 216-pound Trump.
“The USSS director should be fired, and the agency and its training program should be thoroughly scrutinized and completely revamped,” says Hester.
“It’s obvious to me that whoever was in charge of the Trump rally USSS security detail failed miserably. It was inexcusable that the building from which the shooter was positioned was not previously secured and locked down long before the president took the stage. The USSS should admit its failure and take complete responsibility. That is what our country has been lacking in the last few years under the Biden administration. Refusing to be accountable for its actions and mistakes is why so many have lost faith in our government and its institutions.”
Hester, and his wife Daisy, also a retired FBI agent, retired on Amelia Island, Florida two years ago. Their last assignment before moving here was in Miami alongside Fox News contributor and former agent Nicole Parker.
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