A 25-year-old active-duty soldier struck by gunfire during a Secret Service shootout steps from the White House is now seeking $25 million from the federal government, alleging agents failed to protect bystanders.
Benjamin Del Real Jr., a Private First Class stationed in North Carolina, was visiting Washington, D.C., with his father and sister over Memorial Day weekend when a gunman opened fire near a Secret Service outpost on May 23. Del Real took a bullet to the right side of his abdomen. He has undergone two emergency surgeries, including removal of parts of his colon and small intestine, and faces a third procedure next month to repair a torn ACL, AP News reported.
His attorneys at Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices announced Tuesday that they will file an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the required first step before suing the federal government, alleging the Secret Service was negligent in the way it handled the incident. The claim targets the agency directly and seeks $25 million in damages.
At the heart of the case is a question the government has yet to answer publicly: whose bullet hit Del Real? His attorney, Joseph Murphy, told reporters the family believes the shot came from a Secret Service agent, not the gunman.
Murphy laid out the allegation at a press conference Tuesday. He said a "very reliable and confidential source" who has viewed what Murphy described as CCTV footage of the incident told the legal team that the gunman's back was turned to Del Real the entire time.
Murphy put it bluntly:
"The shooter's back was turned to Ben the entire time, so he couldn't have possibly shot Ben."
That claim has not been independently verified. The Secret Service has not released any surveillance footage, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation. Murphy said the firm has requested information from the agency multiple times without receiving a substantive response.
The shooting unfolded shortly before 6 p.m. near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, one of the most heavily surveilled stretches of real estate in the country. Nasire Best, 21, pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing toward a Secret Service outpost. Agents returned fire. Best was hit and later died at a local hospital.
Del Real and his family were roughly 20 yards from the gunman when the shooting started, Murphy said. The soldier was rushed to George Washington University Hospital and went into surgery immediately. A second operation followed days later.
Murphy did not hold back about the agency's performance, even while acknowledging its reputation.
"The United States Secret Service is a highly trained and highly effective organization. With that being said, they are trained to identify and neutralize targets without hurting or injuring civilians, and they are trained to anticipate and expect the unexpected. And unfortunately, they fell well short of their training on May 23rd of this year when they injured Benjamin Del Real."
Sara Del Real, the soldier's sister, spoke publicly about the shooting for the first time at the press conference. She and her father were with Del Real when the gunfire erupted.
"I, my father and Benjamin all feared for our lives, and the moment that I saw Ben bleeding was undoubtedly the scariest moment of my life."
She called for answers and accountability from the agency responsible for protecting the area around the White House.
"We need to know exactly what happened, and we believe those responsible for shooting my brother should be held accountable. The men and women entrusted with protecting the public carry an enormous responsibility. We hope this tragedy leads to greater accountability and helps prevent something like this from ever happening to another innocent family."
Del Real himself addressed the press conference briefly. He did not describe the shooting in detail but spoke about the long recovery ahead.
"The degree of uncertainty that accompanies being seriously wounded presents its own unique challenges because the road to recovery will be long and strenuous."
Murphy offered a grim assessment of the soldier's prognosis. "He's a young man, he's 25 years old, and he's had part of his digestive system taken out," the attorney said. "It's not going to get any better from here."
Under Washington, D.C., procedure, all police use-of-force incidents, including those involving federal agents, are investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. Deadly force cases go to MPD's Force Investigation Team, a specialized unit that reviews the circumstances and then refers the case to federal prosecutors for an independent review to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
The office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, did not respond to a request for comment on the status of its review. Neither investigation has produced a public finding nearly two months after the shooting.
The incident was one of several alarming security events near the White House in recent months. A convicted felon fired on Secret Service agents near the Washington Monument after walking the path of a Vance motorcade. Separately, a Secret Service officer was shot at the White House Correspondents' Dinner but survived after a ballistic vest stopped the round.
President Trump was in the Oval Office at the time of the May 23 shooting. He had canceled a planned trip to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that weekend. Reporters on the White House grounds were rushed into the press briefing room and placed on lockdown for roughly 40 minutes after shots rang out.
The Washington Examiner reported that Del Real was initially in critical condition after the shooting, though it remained unclear at the time whether he had been struck by a round from the suspect or from an agent returning fire. Just The News identified Del Real as a tourist caught in the crossfire, and his law firm confirmed it was investigating the circumstances.
Del Real is from Salina, Kansas. He serves as an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army. His family's Memorial Day trip to the nation's capital, the kind of visit thousands of American families make every year, ended with their son on a gurney at George Washington University Hospital.
Federal authorities have also confronted other plots targeting events near the White House, including an alleged explosive-drone and sniper scheme aimed at a UFC event on the grounds. The string of incidents raises serious questions about whether security protocols around the complex adequately account for the civilians who gather nearby every day.
The Federal Tort Claims Act requires claimants to file an administrative claim with the government before bringing a lawsuit. If the government denies the claim or fails to act within six months, the claimant can then take the case to federal court. Murphy's firm announced the claim but had not formally filed it as of the press conference.
No one disputes that Del Real did nothing wrong. He was a young soldier on a family vacation who walked past the wrong checkpoint at the wrong time. The question now is whether the Secret Service, an agency built around precision and threat containment, put a bullet in an innocent man, and whether the government will answer for it or stonewall a soldier who already gave his career to public service.
When the people trained to protect the public instead wound the public, accountability is not optional. It is the bare minimum.