Kimberly Cheatle

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Kimberly Cheatle
File:Kimberly Cheatle, Secret Service Assistant Director.jpg
Director of the United States Secret Service
In office
September 17, 2022 – July 23, 2024
President Joe Biden
Preceded by James M. Murray
Succeeded by Vacant
Personal details
Born Kimberly A. Cheatle
1970/1971 (age 53–54)
Hinsdale, Illinois, U.S.
Education Eastern Illinois University (BA)
Awards Presidential Rank Award (2021)

Kimberly A. Cheatle (born 1970/1971[1]) is an American law enforcement officer who served as the 27th director of the United States Secret Service from September 2022 to July 2024.[2] She previously held multiple roles in the United States Secret Service over twenty-seven years. Prior to her secret service appointment, she worked for PepsiCo.

She was in charge of the Secret Service during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump,[3] which brought her into the national spotlight where she faced widespread criticism and calls to resign.[4] She eventually resigned on July 23, 2024.

Early life

Cheatle was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, and grew up in Danville, Illinois.[5] She graduated from Eastern Illinois University where she majored in sociology with a concentration in criminal justice.[6]

Career

Cheatle joined the United States Secret Service in 1995.[7] She was involved in the evacuation of Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney during the September 11 attacks and served on Joe Biden's protective detail during the Obama administration, when she was assigned to the Vice Presidential Protective Division.[8] In 2017 and 2018, she served as deputy assistant director. She served as special-agent-in-charge in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, office. She became the first woman to serve as assistant director of Protective Operations, a unit tasked with protection of the President of the United States and dignitaries.[9]

From 2019 to 2022, Cheatle served as senior director of global security at PepsiCo.[10][11]

In 2021, President Joe Biden awarded Cheatle a Presidential Rank Award for exceptional performance.[12] In August 2022, President Biden announced the appointment of Cheatle as director of the United States Secret Service,[13] and she assumed office on September 17, 2022.[2] Cheatle took over the Secret Service following "a turbulent couple of months in which the agency best known for protecting presidents has faced controversies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol."[14]

Cheatle told CBS News the agency needed to "attract diverse candidates and give opportunities to everybody in the workforce, particularly women," outlining her goal that by 2030, thirty percent of its recruits would be female.[15]

In April 2024, after a female agent on Vice President Kamala Harris's detail attacked her superior officer and other agents, U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer requested a briefing with Cheatle to address issues regarding hiring, training and disciplinary processes. The Secret Service downplayed reports of a petition circulating within the agency alleging security vulnerabilities arising from these processes.[16][17] Cheatle's previous statements regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion became a frequent target for criticism by bipartisan commentators after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.[18][19][20][21] The Secret Service called criticism of female agents "misogynistic" and reaffirmed its belief where diversity in recruiting was "helping, not hurting, the effectiveness of its protective teams."[22]

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Attempted assassination of Donald Trump

On July 13, 2024, during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Cheatle was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the 2024 Republican National Convention was due to commence in two days. In the wake of the shooting and criticism of her leadership, Cheatle acknowledged the failure of the Secret Service, calling it "unacceptable." However, Cheatle told ABC News that she would not resign from her position[23] and defended herself by saying that local law enforcement had been responsible for securing the building from which the shooter launched his attack.[4][24]

On July 20, 2024, Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA) called on Cheatle to resign in the wake of the assassination attempt against Trump, making him the first congressional Democrat to do so.[25] Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Cheatle to resign, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for new leadership at the agency on the same day.[26]

On July 22, 2024, Cheatle testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability about the assassination attempt.[27] During the hearing, she acknowledged it was "the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades" and faced a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers calling for her to resign. However, she pledged not to resign.[28][29][30] Cheatle also acknowledged that the Secret Service had rebuffed requests for additional resources for Trump's security detail in the two years leading up to the assassination attempt. That was a reversal from an earlier statement from the week prior in which an agency spokesman denied that such requests had been turned down.[31][32]

Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her position as the director of the Secret Service on July 23, 2024.[33]

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.

Use <references />, or <references group="..." />

External links

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Kimberly_Cheatle&oldid=727544357"