SALT LAKE CITY — After Secret Service members rushed former President Donald Trump off the stage after he was shot in the ear Saturday afternoon, FOX 13 News spoke with a retired Secret Service agent who lives in Utah about their responsibilities on the ground.
Dennis Crandall was a Secret Service agent for 30 years and was the resident agent in charge at the Salt Lake City field office. He said Secret Service agents are not just the ones who cover and evacuate the candidate or president they are protecting, but they also work in setting up protection in advance — to play an important role in the political process.
"I like to think it’s very important,” said Crandall.
He says the job is much more complex than most people think.
"People say, 'Why don’t we just lock them up so nobody gets to them?' People want to see these candidates, they want to see the president, so there has to be common ground, somehow, so people have access to these candidates within reason,” said Crandall.
He was with President Ronald Reagan's daughter when there was an assassination attempt on his life, so he has been a close witness to these situations. He added that Secret Service agents are also the ones identifying threats and then do extensive background checks to help piece the whole picture together.
“And we like to think that agents do it as discreetly as possible, and you can see them come out of nowhere and respond, and off they went,” said Crandall.
