Some are criticizing the U.S. Secret Service because a protester, Ryan Clayton, was able to throw Russian flags at President Trump, Tuesday.
How was Ryan Clayton able to get so close to President Trump?
This is a @SecretService fail. pic.twitter.com/62ilS9jqGL— Based Monitored ???? (@BasedMonitored) October 24, 2017
Actually, it isn’t.
First off, because the president was in the Capitol complex, his detail knew that everyone in that building had gone through the Capitol Police checkpoints and been searched for weapons. It is for that reason that the detail gave Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Trump space as they approached the gathered journalists.
Second, reflecting the Secret Service’s concern that attackers may attempt to infiltrate media pools, the journalists were contained in roped-off pen and monitored by a specifically assigned agent.
Third, as shown at the 52-second mark, the press pen assigned agent reacted immediately to Clayton’s protest. As he does so, another agent comes from behind the first agent and stands in a blocking position towards the corridor Trump has just walked down. With the support of Capitol Police officers, Clayton is quickly arrested. At the 1-minute and 9-second mark, the main element of Trump’s detail passes by the commotion and calmly follows Trump down the corridor. This is a textbook response refined by years of training and experience.
Why weren’t the agents more aggressive in securing Clayton?
Simple, because agents are trained to regard protests as possible diversions for an actual attack. It’s for that reason, as we saw numerous times during the 2016 presidential campaign, that agents respond to a protest by closing up around a protectee. Had Clayton been an attacker, the Secret Service response would have been very different. The press pen agent would have aggressively pushed his way through the crowd to secure Clayton, and the rest of Trump’s detail would have rushed to cover and evacuate him.
Ultimately, today’s incident wasn’t an example of protective failure, but rather of success. And that speaks to something: the Secret Service faces great challenges, but it remains the finest protective force in the world.
