RICHMOND, Va. -- There are a select few people who know what it takes to plan an event like the rally where former President Donald Trump was shot on Saturday at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheryl Tyler, a retired Secret Service special agent who served on protective duty for Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is one of them. The first Black female Secret Service agent to protect a U.S. president also worked for the TSA, which she joined shortly after it was created in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"It took me back," Tyler said Saturday night. "It took me back to training, it took me back to real life situations.
The expert in security, logistics, and risk assessment weighed in on what appeared to be a massive breach at an event that was supposed to have the highest level of safety.
Tyler said that until we know more, people should reserve judgment.
"How did Lee Harvey Oswald get into the bookstore and shoot?" she said. "OK, so you can start Monday morning quarterbacking now immediately — and that's what's going to happen."
WATCH: Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore: 'This looks like a real assassination attempt'
From what she has seen, Tyler said Trump's security detail responded to the shooter appropriately.
"The team did what they were supposed to do, the agents that were on the stage did what they were supposed to do," Tyler said. "The team that took the person out apparently did what they were supposed to do and did it timely."
And even if the agents in Pennsylvania had never experienced anything like this before, Tyler said they were prepared for it.
"The unknown is what you always train for," she said. "You train to be ready, you're trained to be on. That's a critical element in that job, you don't get a second chance."
Tyler said Saturday's attempted assassination reminded her of when John Hinckley Jr. attempted to kill President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
But she said the political divisions in this country today are far worse than when she served.
"Our society is in a different stratosphere right now," Tyler said. "I would say we've lost the moral compass. How do we get back on track? I don't have that answer, but we have to."
That is why she is glad that the Secret Service exists: to protect our politicians no matter what party they represent.
"The oath we took as an agent, it states you are there to protect the constitution of this country, so you don't care who sits in that White House," Tyler said.
