Javed Ali, Ford School professor, and national security expert, answered some pressing questions about the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in an essay for The Conversation. He wrote, "There was an obvious security failure, and you don’t need my background to know that."
"The fact that this vulnerability wasn’t apparently identified in the event planning is disturbing." However, he also noted that, "In a way, the system worked in response to the attack" because Crooks was only able to take a few shots at former President Trump."
Looking at the rest of the campaign season, Ali wrote, "If I were running the Secret Service, I would absolutely shut down outdoor rallies until they come up with a plan to mitigate these kinds of risks." He also explained that "there will be a heightened Secret Service protection around President Joe Biden and Trump." The Secret Service may need to develop new capabilities "in order to better protect presidential candidates." He speculated that these may be in the form of "some aerial observation capability at these campaign events to understand what is happening on the ground."
Ali also discussed this attack in relation to other events and political violence in the US. "Crooks’ attack on Trump wasn’t like the Pulse nightclub mass shooting in 2016 or other mass shooting events that we have seen over the last several years. Crooks was seemingly trying to just kill Trump, and tragically, some of the rounds hit other people." He went on to explain that this form of attack, "This lone wolf phenomenon of domestic extremism is the most acute threat facing the country – and is also the hardest kind of threat to preemptively stop." He also said that in the US, these lone wolf attacks are the most common, but, "Going after a former president is the most extreme end of that threat spectrum."
Now, the Republican National Convention is going to be buttoned up with protection, and so will the Democratic National Convention in August," explained Ali. He added, "When we get to the November elections, we are likely going to see law enforcement at polling stations, with the Department of Homeland Security also working," all in order to keep our elections and candidates safe.
Read his full commentary here.
