(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Headline USA has exclusively obtained photos from inside the planning room where the Secret Service first met with local law enforcement to prepare for the July 13, 2024, deadly Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This publication also obtained photos from that same room nearly three months later, when the federal and local officials again met nearly to prepare for Trump’s Oct. 5 return to Butler.
Together, the photos, which were taken in the Allegheny County Emergency Services’ conference room, show the dramatic security enhancements that took place between Trump’s July 13 and Oct. 5 rallies.
Indeed, when the Secret Service visited Allegheny County on July 8, 2024, to plan for the upcoming rally, there were only eight agents listed on the agency’s “advance team,” according to a photo from a presentation led by Secret Service agent Meredith Bank.
🚨JULY 13 BUTLER RALLY PLANNING MEETINGS REVEALED
We've exclusively obtained photos from inside the planning room where the Secret Service first met with local law enforcement to prepare for the July 13, deadly Trump rally in Butler, Pa.We've also obtained photos from that same… pic.twitter.com/SZEdUFpQaY
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) July 13, 2025
By contrast, a similar photo of a presentation slide for the Oct. 5 rally listed 21 agents on the advance team.
The Oct. 5 advance team is being identified publicly here for the first time: Brandon Grimes, Terry Hedrick, Jenna Erickson, Michael Fernald, Bryton Peternel, Kendel Ferguson, Zachary Hoalcraft, Zachary Zimmerman, Trenton Sherman, Matthew Miranda, Charles Rienerth, Sean Conroy, Shannon McCormick, Adam Martin, Patrick Atwell, Devonn Barnes, Bryan Chomicki, Thomas Walker, Jennifer Rieker, Robert Waltman II and David Castellon.
🚨OCTOBER 5 TRUMP RALLY PLANNING PHOTOS pic.twitter.com/L7qhg1tPQH
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) July 13, 2025
While the photos of the two planning meetings are revealed here for the first time, the security differences between the two events have been well-documented.
According to interview transcripts, the Secret Service held back-to-back meetings for both Trump’s rally, as well as then-First Lady Jill Biden’s July 13 event in Pittsburgh.
For the locals, the meetings were mostly a waste of time. When the Secret Service opened a PowerPoint presentation with a Google map of the Butler Farm Show, officers rolled their eyes.
“They didn’t really have a lot of information. They brought up a Google map to show us the area. It’s like, ‘Well, we’re all familiar with it. You guys are the ones that aren’t familiar with it,'” a Butler EMS tech who attended the meeting recalled. “So it was—we were there maybe an hour, and then we left from that meeting.”
After hearing the basics, the meeting attendees split into groups to exchange contact information. But they still weren’t quite clear what their respective roles would be that Saturday. Officers assisting with the Biden event were similarly uninformed.
🚨A TALE OF 2 BUTLERS:
The first photo shows the Secret Service's 8-agent advance team responsible for planning the July 13, 2024, deadly Trump rally.
The second two photos show the advance team for when Trump returned to Butler on Oct. 5.
As the photos show, the advance team… pic.twitter.com/V8FQBSo0E7— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) July 13, 2025
“We have FLOTUS & Trump coming in on the same day. Trumps schedule is complete. FLOTUS is the wild card. The USSS said she’s coming, but they don’t know what time, what airport, or where she’s going,” Pittsburgh Police Lt. Charles R. Henderson wrote in an email to his officers about an hour after the Monday meetings. “If it works the way it usually does, we won’t know anything until Wednesday or Thursday.”
The rest of the week, all the way to Trump’s rally, was a disaster. Five of the eight agents listed on the advance team—Myosoty Perez, Dana DuBrey, Meredith Bank, Tim Burke and Brian Pardini—were suspended for the security failures that took place in Butler. And when Trump returned to Butler, none of those agents were on the advance team.
The New York Times documented the security enhancements that took place for Oct. 5. That event featured other high-profile guests such as billionaire Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance.
“Some of the increased security measures were evident as people gathered hours before the rally. Ballistic glass that can deflect bullets was positioned around the area where Mr. Trump is expected to speak, and sharpshooters were visible on some of the low-lying surrounding buildings,” the New York Times reported last October.
“Members of the Secret Service team that typically guards President Biden — called the presidential protective detail — have assisted with the planning of the event. Members of Mr. Biden’s advance detail have been on loan to both Mr. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the presidential election, in the aftermath of the first Butler rally.”
Meanwhile, the Secret Service is still dealing from the fallout of what happened on this day one year ago. Secret Service insiders have also alleged that senior officials from Trump’s security detail avoided accountability for the failures of Butler — some were even promoted — while agents from the Pittsburgh field office were thrown under the bus
Agency infighting aside, questions linger about how things that were so clearly problematic — like the open roof used by gunman Thomas Crooks — weren’t addressed ahead of time.
The widow of Corey Comperatore, who died during the Butler assassination attempt, raised some of those questions during an interview with Fox News this week.
“Why was that such a failure? Why weren’t they paying attention? Why did they think that that roof didn’t need covered? I want to sit down and talk to them,” Helen Comperatore said.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
