Bennie Thompson, Who Moved To Strip Trump's Security, Faces Backlash

A U.S. representative who introduced legislation that would have taken away Donald Trump's Secret Service protection is facing criticism from the former president's allies after Saturday's attempted assassination of the presumptive Republican pick for November's elections.

In mid-April, Mississippi congressman and ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Representative Bennie Thompson, introduced legislation designed to strip convicted felons sentenced to prison of Secret Service protection. It was co-sponsored by several other Democrat lawmakers.

A source in Thompson's office told Newsweek at the time that the bill would affect anyone who is handed a sentence for a felony, and would otherwise receive protection from the Secret Service. "Nobody should have special treatment, and that happens to include the former president," they added in April.

Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony the following month. Sentencing was due to take place on Thursday, but will now likely happen in mid-September.

The former president was attending a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, when he said he was "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear."

Security agents quickly surrounded Trump, who was seen with his face covered in blood and repeatedly calling on the crowd to "fight" as he was rushed off the stage. The Republican front-runner was taken to the hospital and has since been released to his home in New Jersey. His campaign team said the former president still intends to travel to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, which gets underway on Monday.

One rally attendee was killed and two others were critically injured, according to the Secret Service.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, has been identified as "the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump," the FBI said early on Sunday. He was killed at the scene, authorities said.

"Remember, if @BennieGThompson and the Democrats got their way, my dad would be dead right now," Donald Trump Jr., the former president's eldest son, said in a post to X on Sunday.

Amplifying Trump Jr.'s comments, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump ally, listed the Democrat politicians who supported the legislation earlier this year, adding: "If these Democrats got their way, President Trump would have been killed."

In a separate statement shared on social media, Thompson said there was "no room in American democracy for political violence."

"I am grateful for law enforcement's fast response to this incident," he said. "I am glad the former president is safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved."

Many of the co-sponsors shared statements condemning violence against political leaders and urging unity.

Thompson's office did not immediately respond to telephone calls and Newsweek has contacted his team via email for comment.

Referring to reports circulating online that claimed the Trump campaign had requested and been denied additional security for the former president, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said these claims were "absolutely false."

"In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former president's security detail," Guglielmi said.

"The former president, and the current president, are commonly subject to threats, Guglielmi said in a statement, adding: "The U.S. Secret Service takes threats seriously, and it takes actions based on those threats as warranted."

"While we can't get into specifics, the U.S. Secret Service adds additional resources for all campaign cycles, including manpower and a variety of protective technology. This addition of resources happens for all election cycles and is part of our candidate nominee operations section, also known as CNOS."