(Ken Silva, Headline USA) It looks like the Secret Service wasn’t the only agency to decrease the resources it provided to Donald Trump for his 2024 election campaign.
According to local newspaper Butler Eagle, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office nearly halved the number of deputies it sent to protect Trump on July 13 compared to his October 2020 rally in the same area.
The Butler Eagle reported Thursday that 13 deputies were at a Trump rally held in October 2020, while seven were at the July event, where Trump was nearly assassinated.
County officials are reportedly blaming budget constraints for the decrease.
Sheriff Mike Slupe said Wednseday that his deputies worked the July 13 Trump rally for comp time, accruing an hour-and-a-half of time off for every hour they worked.
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche, a Republican, also blamed her Democratic colleague for insisting that the Sheriff’s Office work with the Secret Service under a formal contract, according to the Butler Eagle.
“It seems that there was an effort to avoid overtime to reduce the number of people that might have been available,” Osche reportedly said. “I don’t have any proof of that. It appeared that we were under-resourced.”
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche said Wednesday, Aug. 14, that the July 13 rally for former President Donald Trump appeared to be “under-resourced” — a problem she attributed to a request the Butler County Sheriff’s Office work under a contract. https://t.co/WSpNq6rBeh
— Butler Eagle (@ButlerEagle) August 15, 2024
The Democrat county commissioner, Kevin Boozel, defended his push for a contract on the grounds that it would have protected the county from lawsuits, according to the Butler Eagle.
“One of the things a contract does is protect us if we have to go to court,” Boozel said, adding that he would have pushed for a contact regardless of political affiliation.
“It’s unique in that the sheriff was asked by Secret Service. Even if we just discussed it, even if it were a memorandum of understanding, it should have been part of our plan.”
However, Osche has pushed back against Boozel’s argument. She reportedly said that his office might contract with private entities for security; but federal agencies such as the Secret Service are a different matter.
“The contracts were not meant for this type of event. We were very clear with him that you are the sheriff, if you are contacted by some level of law enforcement for mutual aid, that is your prerogative,” Osche reportedly said.
“The sheriff was within his purview as a separately elected official to respond to public safety requests as deemed necessary as long as he worked within the confines of the budget we approve for him.”
The county is still processing public requests for records about the deadly July 13 rally, according to the Butler Eagle.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
