Secret Service faces largest disaster in many years
The scrutiny being felt by US Secret Service officials shows no signs of letting up in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump this past Saturday in Pennsylvania.
The presumptive Republican nominee was shot at by gunman Thomas Crooks, 20, from a rooftop around 100 feet from the podium. Trump’s ear was grazed by a bullet while supporter Corey Comperatore was tragically killed.
Now, a report from NBC News details that agents who were charged with securing the area in the town of Butler in the days leading up to Trump’s appearance, identified the rooftop as a security risk.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi has said that securing the rooftop would have been under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, however there were no officers assigned to it.
It has been widely reported that after Crooks got into position after climbing a ladder and bear crawling across the roof, a member of the public alerted local police to his presence. An officer was hoisted to the roof with the help another local cop.
When he reached the roof, Crooks pointed his gun at the officer, prompting him to duck for cover away from the roof. Moments later shots rang out.
A timeline showing the dramatic events that took place on July 13
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old would-be assassin who shot Donald Trump, was once rejected from his high school rifle club and considered a danger
Police stand over the body of Donald Trump gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks after he was shot and killed by Secret Service
Following the shooting, Trump put out a statement thanking the Secret Service for their ‘rapid response’ and offering his condolences to Comperatore
‘Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,’ a former Secret Service agent with knowledge of the plans that went into securing the rally told NBC.
It is perhaps the worst lapse in security since President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded at a Washington hotel in 1981.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger has been deflecting the blame for the shooting to the agency.
‘They had meetings in the week prior. The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what. In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were No. 1,’ he said.
The former agent who was speaking to NBC News said that even if local cops ‘did drop the ball,’ the ultimate responsibility lies with the Secret Service.
‘Just because it is outside of the perimeter, it doesn’t take it out of play for a vulnerability, and you’ve got to mitigate it in some fashion,’ the agent added.
Trump who like other former presidents has lifetime protection by the Secret Service, was swarmed by agents who then rushed him away seconds after the gunshots were heard.
Agents killed the shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and an AR-15-style semiautomatic was recovered near his body, officials said.
Trump says a bullet hit his upper right ear but that he is otherwise doing well and would travel to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he will receive his party’s presidential nomination.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, said panels in the chamber will call officials from the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for hearings.
‘The American people deserve to know the truth,’ Johnson said.
The House oversight panel called Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on July 22.
The Secret Service, tasked with protecting current and former presidents, is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The department’s Office of the Inspector General is responsible for conducting oversight of Secret Service operations.
A spokesman for the inspector general’s office did not respond to questions about whether it would launch its own inquiry.
As Trump pumped his fist to the crowd, some were heard cheering his name and chanting ‘USA’ and ‘Make America Great Again’
The FBI said in a statement following the shooting that it would be the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation into the shooting.
In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Guglielmi said the agency had ‘added protective resources (and) technology (and) capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.’
Guglielmi denied accusations that the agency had rebuffed requests for more security resources from Trump’s team.
In televised remarks, Biden, 81, said that Trump, as a former president who is the Republicans’ nominee for president in the Nov. 5 election, already receives a heightened level of security.
‘I’ve been consistent in my direction of the Secret Service to provide him with every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety,’ Biden, a Democrat, said.
He said he had ‘directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened,’ the results of which will be shared with the public.
On Sunday, Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres said that he and Republican Congressman Mike Lawler are planning to introduce a bill that would call for enhanced security for all presidential candidates.
Paul Eckloff, a former Secret Service agent who retired in 2020, said agents would have surveyed all the rooftops with a line of sight ahead of time.
Trump is seen surrounded by Secret Service agents in the moments after the shooting. He raised his fist to indicate that he was okay in an image that has since swept the globe
‘This person either concealed themselves until they became a threat, or were not a threat until they revealed their weapons,’ said Eckloff.
In the moments after Trump was injured, the former president was quickly surrounded by Secret Service personnel who formed a human shield, while heavily armed agents in body armor and toting rifles also took to the stage and appeared to scan the area for threats.
Trump was whisked by the agents to a black SUV, and taken to a local hospital, according to the campaign.
Trump supporters blasted the Secret Service as having failed to protect the former president. Billionaire Elon Musk called for the agency’s leadership to resign.
‘How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee,’ asked conservative activist Jack Posobiec on social media.
‘There will be an intensive review’ of the incident and ‘there’s going to be a massive realignment,’ said Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential detail. ‘This cannot happen.’
During most of Trump’s campaign stops, local police aid the Secret Service in securing the venue. Agents from other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, such as the Transportation Security Administration, occasionally help.
Many Trump rallies feature thousands of audience members, take place in the open air and last for hours.
Before the event, agents scan the venue for bombs or other threats, and Trump invariably arrives in a fortified motorcade.
Law enforcement officials typically put up barriers as a perimeter, and require all attendees to go through a metal detector to enter the venue. Armed protective agents search all attendees’ bags and even wallets. Many rallygoers are patted down by hand.
