A man shot by Secret Service agents after breaching a security perimeter near Mar-a-Lago never made it inside the property, and the response should be viewed as a "success story," author Ron Kessler said Wednesday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
"He didn't get very far," Kessler, a New York Times bestselling author who has written extensively on the Secret Service, said. "I look at this as a success story. Everything went according to security plans. The guy obviously did not get in."
The Associated Press, citing sources close to the investigation, identified the suspect as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of North Carolina.
Authorities said the suspect was detected around 1:30 a.m. after entering an outer security perimeter.
Kessler emphasized that the man "never actually got inside Mar-a-Lago, never got near Mar-a-Lago, that is, the building itself."
"The perimeter that they're talking about is not very large," he said. "It's just the area where they will not allow anybody to penetrate. But the important thing is the individual never actually got inside Mar-a-Lago."
Kessler credited changes made under President Donald Trump and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who previously led Trump's detail.
Since the current director took over, Kessler said "everything has been beefed up – the electronics have been beefed up, the number of agents."
He added that when Trump appears in public, "you'll see that there are twice as many agents around him, and they're right next to him."
Describing security at the Palm Beach estate, Kessler said Mar-a-Lago is surrounded by walls and protected by multiple layers of law enforcement.
"There are walls around Mar-a-Lago. There are Coast Guard ships in the water nearby," he said. "Not to mention the local sheriff."
He characterized the suspect as someone who "obviously, didn't know what he was doing" and "thought he could actually penetrate Mar-a-Lago," adding, "He probably had no idea of what the Secret Service would be doing."
Kessler also addressed the FBI's role in leading the investigation, cautioning against reading too much into that development.
"Just to make a minor correction, the FBI, by previous agreement, automatically is the agency that investigates any kind of threat on the president that actually transpires," he said. "So there's nothing to be read into the fact that the FBI is now in charge."
Former law enforcement officials on the panel said investigators will likely examine the suspect's digital footprint, travel history, weapon purchase, and any possible associates as they determine whether he acted alone.
Kessler said the swift response at 1:30 a.m. demonstrated agents were alert and prepared.
"Everything went according to plan," he said. "I think we can be grateful."
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