A Secret Service agent who rushed to shield President Donald Trump from a would-be assassin’s sniper fire is the new pick to lead the embattled federal protection agency.
Trump’s new appointee is Sean Curran, one of the agents who rushed to shield Trump with his own body during the assassination attempt in Butler County, PA, last summer.
“It is my great honor to appoint Sean Curran as the next Director of the United States Secret Service,” Trump said in a statement. “Sean is a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service.”
Curran has over two decades of experience in law enforcement, beginning at the Secret Service in 2001.
Curran served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential Protective Division during Trump’s first term, which included helping secure Trump’s residences.
“Sean has distinguished himself as a brilliant leader, who is capable of directing and leading operational security plans for some of the most complex Special Security Events in the History of our Country, and the World,” Trump said.
The Secret Service has been under increasing scrutiny for security lapses that nearly led to Trump’s death.
As The Center Square previously reported, a shooter was somehow able to get on a rooftop overlooking the former president’s position and fire several shots before being taken out by agents.
Trump took a bullet to the ear, and one rally attendee was fatally shot while two more were injured.
The Secret Service still faces questions of how the shooter was able to get a direct line of sight, why he wasn’t spotted in time, why better planning was not done to make sure the rooftop was secure, and why local law enforcement officers were not able to better communicate with Secret Service agents.
The previous head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, later resigned after a disastrous Congressional hearing following the near-fatal assassination attempt against Trump where she failed to give clear answers or convince lawmakers she was capable of fixing problems at the Secret Service.
Now, Curran will take her place.
“He proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania,” he added. “I have complete and total confidence in Sean to make the United States Secret Service stronger than ever before.”
