As we learned in an in-depth story published in the Tuesday, Aug. 20, edition of the Butler Eagle, basic security lapses preceded the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13.

The shooting, in which spectator Corey Comperatore was killed, two others were seriously wounded and Trump himself was grazed, is at the center of a massive investigative effort. The story published Tuesday, was a joint effort of the Butler Eagle and two nonprofit news organizations, SpotlightPA and ProPublica and gives readers a glimpse into what went wrong that day in Connoquenessing Township.

The main takeaway is that an assassination attempt like the one that happened in Butler County became more and more likely. There isn’t a single reason for that, but rather a host of small ones, each of which contributed.

As the reporting found, the process the Secret Service followed was basically the same as the one they have used for years.

“It’s pretty clear that it wasn’t just one screw-up here,” said Andrew Vitek, a professor who teaches about terrorism at Penn State University. “This is indicative of multiple systemic failures all coming down around their ears at once.”

There is much investigating left to do, but one thing is becoming abundantly clear. The July 13 assassination attempt was in part a result of a cultural failure in the agency charged with protecting politicians and other dignitaries.

Kimberly Cheadle resigned as director of the agency in the wake of the shooting, but the responsibility goes beyond just her. The investigations have to not just tell us what happened, but how it did.

That way we can keep another tragedy from happening the way this one did.

— JK