Charlie Kirk’s assassination raises new secret service security problems

The secret services have its full hands to combat an unprecedented level of political threats, a problem underlined following the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

While the secret services trigger a series of changes to strengthen its security practices following two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump last year, the agency now operates in an extremely increased state in the midst of an unprecedented level of threats, according to experts.

“The secret services must now play at an increased level of security which they have never dreamed of before. I think that (the director of secret services Sean Curran) does a good job to direct this effort,” said Tim Miller, who was a secret service agent on the presidents George Hw Bush and Bill Clinton on Thursday. “But here is the bad news for the secret services: they don’t have time. This threat is now. Can you imagine-they have already shot our president once. Can you imagine if they are able to kill him?”

Live updates: manhunt for Charlie Kirk Shooter continues

Charlie Kirk speaks at the University of Utah Valley on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, before the assassination. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune / Getty Images)

Kirk, 31, died after being killed in the neck during his “American tour” at the University of Utah Valley on Wednesday. The assassination occurs a year after two attempts to take the life of the president.

The twenty -year -old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump on a roof during a campaign rally in July 2024, and one of the eight bullets scraped Trump’s ear. The shooter also shot Corey Comperatore, a 50 -year -old firefighter, father and husband who attended the rally, and injured two others.

Ryan Roudh was apprehended and accused of having tried to assassinate Trump in his international Golf Club Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September 2024. Roth was accused of attempted assassination of a large presidential candidate, among others, and his trial launched on Thursday.

Could Butler reproduce? Former secret service agents weigh on political violence in 2025

The presidential candidate of the time, Donald Trump, pumps his fist while he was precipitated by agents of the American secret services after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Getty Images / Anna Moneymaker)

The two assassination attempts against Trump are investigated.

Bill Gage, who was a special agent of the secret service during the presidents George W. Bush and the administrations of Barack Obama, said that even if the agency had not ensured security during the Kirk event, he would carry out an assassination exam as he does for others in the world. As a result, the agency may plan to improve smaller security details for Trump’s family members, such as President Barron’s son, in response to Kirk’s death, said Gage.

“I think they will probably take a look at probably strengthening these little details which could sometimes only have two, maybe three agents, ok?” Pledge told Fox News Digital Thursday. “And so again, this will increase this pressure where the agency is already stretched.”

Miller, who now directs Lionheart International Services Group, who provides security support and training, said Kirk’s assassination was not a “unique” incident and that the agency should adopt a state of mind similar to the Ministry of War to train members of the service.

“The secret services should be the most important, the most nasty and nasty people on the planet,” said Miller. “They should have the experience and a skill to know where, when it’s okay, there is no better.”

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President Donald Trump is advisor Air Force One on August 1, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

Miller previously described the attack in Butler at Fox News Digital as a “alarm clock” for the secret services, and noted that the incident had been the impregnation of the agency.

A working group on the bipartite house that investigated the attack revealed that the assassination attempt was “preventable” and concluded that multiple errors were not isolated incidents.

The former acting director of the secret services, Ronald Rowe, told legislators in December 2024 that immediate changes to the agency following Butler, in Pennsylvania, included the expansion of the use of drones for surveillance purposes and also incorporating counter-ground technology to mitigate kinetic attacks.

The agency has also revised its radio communications networks and the interoperability of these networks with the staff of the secret service and agents of the law enforcement and local, said Rowe.

A secret vehicle near the White House in Washington, DC, January 24, 2025. (Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Although Miller said the secret services worked hard to implement changes, he said he was worried that he was not fast enough to face the threats the president is confronted. In addition, he said that in light of Kirk’s assassination and attempts against Trump last year, there is additional pressure on the agency to refine his skills.

“After yesterday, I am sure that each secret service agent acknowledges that every day they go to work could be day,” said Miller.

The secret services expressed their condolences to the Kirk family, but refused to comment on any specific change in Trump’s security details.

“President Trump receives the highest levels in the protection of American secret services and the agency adjusts our protection posture if necessary to alleviate evolving threats on Thursday,” a spokesman for the secret service. “For the sake of operational security, we cannot discuss the means and methods used for our protection operations.”