Litany of inexplicable security failures emerges in Trump assassination attempt
Disturbing new reports have emerged about the glaringly obvious security failures in the lead-up to the shooting of Donald Trump.
Disturbing new reports have emerged about the glaringly obvious security failures in the lead-up to the shooting of Donald Trump.
The fresh revelations — including that a police officer actually confronted gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, moments before he opened fire on the former President, and that counter-snipers were stationed in the building itself — will only raise more difficult questions about how the Secret Service and other law enforcement dropped the ball in Saturday’s failed assassination attempt.
Video showed witnesses pointing and shouting at the man crawling on the roof of the building overlooking the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, as they attempted to alert police and Secret Service agents to the danger.
This was just several minutes before shots rang out, nearly killing Trump and leaving one rally-goer dead and two others injured.
“When I say that something like this cannot happen, we are speaking of a failure [of the Secret Service],” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN on Monday.
“We are going to analyse, through an independent review, how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I couldn’t be clearer.”
As the federal agency tasked with protecting presidents now faces multiple investigations and growing calls for its head to resign, new details — each seemingly worse than the last — are emerging.
Glaring security lapses allowed an armed man with no military background to get into an elevated firing position less than 130 metres away from the Republican presidential candidate.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that a local Butler Township police officer climbed onto the roof to investigate reports of a suspicious person, but retreated without firing a shot.
Several rally-goers had reported that Crooks was acting suspiciously and pacing near the magnetometers, according to the Associated Press, and the officer was hoisted up by a colleague to grab the ledge — but then dropped back down when the gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him.
Crooks opened fire seconds later, grazing Trump’s ear and killing one member of the crowd, former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50. Two other rally attendees, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were injured in the gunfire.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the Associated Press that the officer could not have used his gun. “I think all law enforcement on site did everything that they could, especially the local law enforcement,” he said.
“I hope they’re not made a scapegoat, because they did their job to the best of their abilities.”
Butler Township Manager Tom Knights insisted the officer lost his grip and was not retreating when he fell eight feet (2.4 metres) to the ground, injuring his ankle.
“He was literally dangling from the edge of a building and took the defensive position he needed to at that time,” Mr Knights said. “He couldn’t hold himself up.”
According to an NBC report, the Secret Service had previously flagged the building, owned by glass research company AGR International, as a security risk in the days before the event at the adjacent Butler Farm Show venue — but no officers or snipers were posted on the roof.
“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” one former senior Secret Service agent told NBC.
Even more bizarrely, the building itself was the staging area for the local police tactical team doing overwatch of the crowd, law enforcement officials told ABC on Monday.
Sources told the NY Post a local police counter-sniper team was actually stationed inside the building, which was being used as a “watch post” to scan for snipers.
ABC previously reported the building had been swept, but investigators are now trying to determine whether access to the roof had been properly locked down.
Preliminary findings suggest the gunman climbed onto the roof without a ladder.
The Secret Service and local police are now pointing fingers at one another.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC the agency had designated the rooftop as being under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, describing it as common practice at outdoor rallies.
Butler County officials had deployed four sniper teams and four quick response teams, but District Attorney Richard Goldinger insisted Secret Service agents were in charge of security outside the venue.
“They had meetings in the week prior,” he told NBC. “The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what. In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were number one.”
Mr Goldinger said he was told by the commander of his Emergency Services Unit it was not responsible for securing areas outside the venue. “To me, the whole thing is under the jurisdiction of the Secret Service,” he said. “And they will delineate from there.”
Separately, WPXI-TV reports Crooks was spotted on the roof by police nearly 30 minutes before the shooting.
An officer at the rally took a photo of Crooks at 5.45pm and called it in as a suspicious person, according to the local news outlet.
One eyewitness told the BBC on Saturday how bystanders frantically tried to alert authorities to the shooter.
“We noticed a guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet [15 metres] away from us,” he said.
“We’re standing there, we’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle. The police are down there running around on the ground. We’re like, ‘Hey, man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle.’ And the police were like, ‘Huh, what?’ Like did not know what was going on. We’re like, ‘Hey right here on the roof, we can see him, he’s crawling.’”
The witness said could not understand why Trump was still speaking on stage at that point.
“I’m standing there pointing at him for two or three minutes,” he said. “Secret Service is looking at us from the top of the barn, I’m pointing at that roof, and next thing you know five shots rang out.”
Crooks killed by Secret Service counter-snipers but not before managing to fire off eight shots with an AR-style rifle.
Former Secret Service agent and podcaster Dan Bongino said he had been told by sources that authorities had been “monitoring” Crooks since he came into the external perimeter area.
“They lost track of him apparently, and he was hiding in a building about 300 yards [270 metres] away,” Bongino said on his Monday show.
“Folks, if they had this subject on their radar that you had a potential threat, I think the questions right now are fairly obvious. Why was President Trump even on stage at that point? He should have not been on stage. It’s ridiculous. I mean, if you know you’re in a situation with a potential threat out there, just delay the event for a little bit.”
The FBI is leading the investigation into the assassination attempt, and President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review.
Separately, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have demanded answers from the Secret Service and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Mark Green, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a letter to Mr Mayorkas on Sunday.
“No assassination attempt has come so close to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981 … This raises serious concerns regarding how a shooter was able to access a rooftop within range and direct line of sight of where President Trump was speaking.”
The committee has requested a response, including copies of the security plan for the perimeter of the event, by Friday July 19.
Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego of Arizona also wrote to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Saturday demanding answers to “grave concerns regarding the security measures — or lack thereof”.
“I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately,” Mr Gallego said.
James Comer, Republican Chair of the House Oversight Committee, issued a letter on Saturday formally inviting Ms Cheatle to testify at a hearing on Monday, July 22.
“There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Mr Comer said in a statement.
The Secret Service has pushed back on a number of claims about its actions, denying reports that the Trump campaign’s request for additional resources was rebuffed, or that it diverted resources from the rally to a speech by First Lady Jill Biden.
Ms Cheatle said in a statement on Monday that the agency was “working with all involved federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again”.
“We understand the importance of the independent review announced by President Biden yesterday and will participate fully,” she said. “We will also work with the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action.”
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