*Cheryl Tyler, a former Secret Service Special Agent, is defending her female colleagues from criticism after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Speaking to TMZ, Tyler addressed the criticism of female agents and emphasized the challenges all agents face in securing high-profile assignments.
Tyler, who protected Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, said agents have “very high standards to live up to.”
She knows the Secret Service agents who were present during the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend, and they are deeply disappointed about the incident.
“Those of us who have since left the agency are too hurting,” she said. “Yes, we all wish that it never gotten to that situation, but the casualties could have possibly been worse.”
Although Trump’s Secret Service responded as they should have following the shots, Tyler said they still “failed.”
Trump was nearly assassinated at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday and later stated that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
The 20-year-old shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed at the scene of the assassination attempt, authorities said.
“Taking someone’s life is not easy but if it means that you have to defend the constitution and the protection of that protectee, you will take that life,” Tyler said.
Tyler described the assassination attempt as “a stain on the nation,” and “a stain on the Secret Service.”
“We’ve had some stains. We’ve had some loss of life within the Secret Service. We’ve lost the president before. We’ve made adjustments. We’ve retooled to be better. We will continue to retool and be better,” she said.
Tyler’s written a book about her experience as the first black female Secret Service agent to protect a U.S. president. The book is titled “Trailblazer: The Story of the First Black Female Secret Service Agent to Protect the President and Her Fight for Justice.”
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