Former Secret Service Agent On Second Apparent Assassination Attempt Of Former President Donald Trump

Many safety questions have been raised as the FBI is investigating what they called a second 'apparent' assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

A suspect has been arrested after police in Florida said they saw the suspect pointing a rifle through a shrubbery with a view of Trump on a golf course.

Former Secret Service Agent and current University of Central Oklahoma President Todd Lamb spoke with News 9 This Morning about the emergency protocol that has been used twice in two months.

Lamb worked on details protecting President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush and was a site supervisor for the 2000 presidential campaign.

Lamb said the Secret Service response in both shootings was in accordance with their training.

He said that when Trump was shot at a campaign event in Pennsylvania in July, while there were missteps in the advanced planning, the Secret Service response was stellar.

“How they covered President Trump, made a human shield. This response, firing shots when they saw the muzzle of the gun through the fence, then evacuating and then subsequently making the arrest,” Lamb said.

He said that many elements go into protecting the President at a campaign event, especially when there are many people around.

“Setting up a security advance for a President's campaign is very, very challenging,” Lamb said. “The local politicians, the local political group, even the presidential campaign wants the candidate as close to the people as possible."

With training for large events, he said the Secret Service also needs to be involved during private events when there is no apparent threat.

He said he was in awe of the Secret Service members who were able to locate the suspect in Florida before they were able to harm the former President.

“For an agent to see a muzzle sticking through a fence. I mean, that is incredible, and they teach us that, that incredible attention to detail, knowing what you're looking for,” Lamb said.

He said that in the last 40 years, there have been threats and investigations into the Presidents' safety, but having two attempts within such a short timespan has to do with the current state of society.

“Our rhetoric, not just from candidates but our rhetoric in society and in culture and day to day at the water cooler, has become so heightened and so vitriolic in politics,” Lamb said. “Everybody's at a fever pitch, and then it's even more acute during a campaign cycle so close to an election."