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Failures of Secret Service mount as senators demand accountability

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From The Center Square

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The failures of the Secret Service around the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump are mounting but members of Congress say there’s not been enough accountability.

Trump suffered a wound to the ear, a spectator was killed and two others were critically wounded when a sniper opened fire in Butler, Pennsylvania, at a campaign rally on July 13. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after a U.S. House hearing failed to get answers.

On Tuesday in a U.S. Senate hearing, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe told U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, those on the ground making decisions that day have not been fired.

“Is it not prima facie somebody has failed? A former president was shot,” Hawley said.

“Sir, this could have been our Texas Schoolbook Depository,” Rowe said, referencing the sniper’s outpost in the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. “I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days, just like you have.”

“Then fire somebody, to hold them accountable,” Hawley said.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, and U.S. Sens. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, during Tuesday’s joint hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Hawley was asking why the people who made the decision to not have someone on the roof where the sniper was ultimately killed, who managed radio communications or who failed to keep the president from taking the stage that day have not been fired.

Tuesday’s joint hearing was with the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. Senators reviewed the lapses in communications, placement of the parameter in Butler and where the buck stops for the failures.

Discussed was how the shooter was known minutes before the shooting to be suspicious with a rangefinder before being seen with a gun. The shooter even sent up a drone hours before the event. Rowe said they didn’t have their anti-drone systems in place until later in the day.

“It appears that there was an offer by a state or local agency to fly a drone on our behalf and I’m getting to the bottom of why we turned that down,” Rowe said.

The motive of the shooter, who was shot and killed, is still being investigated.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, confirmed from the Secret Service and the FBI that they are updating their security posture after the lessons of July 13 ahead of next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“Tens of thousands of people will be there including some of the highest ranking politicians in the United States,” Durbin said.

DEI

University System of Georgia to ban DEI, commit to neutrality, teach Constitution

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The University of Georgia in Athens

From The Center Square

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“The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”

The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents has recommended a number of new and revised policies for its institutions, such as a commitment to institutional neutrality, the prohibiting of DEI tactics, and a mandatory education in America’s founding documents.

The University System of Georgia (USG) is made up of Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities as well as Georgia Archives and the Georgia Public Library Service.

“USG institutions shall remain neutral on social and political issues unless such an issue is directly related to the institution’s core mission,” the board’s proposed revisions read.

“Ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements,” will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, employment processes and decisions, and institution orientation and training for both students and employees.

“No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,” the new policy states.

Additionally, USG will hire based on a person’s qualifications and ability.

“The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”

Beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, the school’s civic instruction will require students to study founding American documents among other things.

USG students will learn from the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as the Georgia Constitution and Bill of Rights.

When reached for comment, the Board of Regents told The Center Square that “these proposed updates strengthen USG’s academic communities.”

The recommended policies allow a campus environment “where people have the freedom to share their thoughts and learn from one another through objective scholarship and inquiry,” and “reflect an unyielding obligation to protect freedom, provide quality higher education and promote student success,” the board said.

The board told The Center Square that it proposed strengthening “the requirements for civics instruction” with the inclusion of “foundational primary sources” because of higher education’s duty to students.

Colleges and universities “must prepare [students] to be contributing members of society and to understand the ideals of freedom and democracy that make America so exceptional,” the board said.

As for ditching DEI, the board explained that “equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of USG.”

“The proposed revisions among other things would make clear that student admissions and employee hiring should be based on a person’s qualifications, not his or her beliefs,” the board said.

The Board of Regents also said it wants to “ensure [its] institutions remain neutral on social and political issues while modeling what it looks like to promote viewpoint diversity, create campus cultures where students and faculty engage in civil discourse, and the open exchange of ideas is the norm.”

USG’s Board of Regents recently urged the NCAA to ban transgender-identifying men from participating in women’s sports, in line with the NAIA rules, The Center Square previously reported.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

G20’s Online Speech Clampdown Calls Set To Ignite Free Speech Fears

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G20 leaders convened in Rio de Janeiro have called for enhanced responsibility and transparency from digital platforms to tackle the growing challenges of “misinformation,” “disinformation,” “hate speech,” and others on their long list of supposed online “harms.”

The summit’s final declaration highlighted the transformative role of digital platforms in global communication but noted the adverse effects of digital content’s rapid spread. It called for increased accountability from platforms to manage speech, which should raise eyebrows among free speech advocates who’ve heard all this before.

We obtained a copy of the declaration for you here.

During the summit, the leaders highlighted the transformative impact of digital platforms in communication and information dissemination across the globe. However, they also alleged negative ramifications of unchecked digital spaces, where “harmful” content can proliferate at an unprecedented pace and scale.

In response, the G20’s final declaration underscored the critical role of digital platforms in ensuring their ecosystems do not become breeding grounds for speech they don’t like.

The declaration states: “We recognize that digital platforms have reshaped the digital ecosystem and online interactions by amplifying information dissemination and facilitating communication within and across geographical boundaries. However, the digitization of the information realm and the accelerated evolution of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), has dramatically impacted the speed, scale, and reach of misinformation and disinformation, hate speech, and other forms of online harms.”

The G20 goes on to say that it emphasizes the “need for digital platforms’ transparency and responsibility in line with relevant policies and applicable legal frameworks and will work with platforms and relevant stakeholders in this regard.”

The declaration even says more measures need to be taken to control what it says is the spread of online misogyny and the need to combat it “online and offline.”

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