The Secret Service's explanations for security lapses surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday are conflicting, according to security experts and former Secret Service agents.
The details that have emerged highlight a disconnect between local authorities and the Secret Service and further reveal major oversights. Many key questions hinge on responsibilities delegated to local police by U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Confirmed In an interview with ABC News on Monday, he said several people were inside the building where the gunman opened fire, but no one was on the roof.
Cheatle explanation The decision was made not to allow anyone onto the building because the roof was “sloped” and therefore unsafe, but security experts and former Secret Service agents who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation called not allowing anyone onto the roof a “huge mistake” and stressed that Cheatle's explanation was insufficient.
“The local police [and] “The Secret Service agrees that it's not safe to keep someone there for a few hours,” former Secret Service employee Anthony Cangelosi told DCNF. “So the question is, okay, how do you maintain that integrity if you don't? It's not like you just throw up your hands and say, 'We can't do that.'”
Cangelosi said there was no “good reason” for not covering the roof and suggested solutions should have been found, such as installing a separate platform or putting officers on lifts.
Peter Yachmets, a former FBI agent and principal security consultant at Yachmets Consulting Group, said the shooter had been roaming “unsecured” rooftops before the attack.
“The slope had no effect on him,” Yakumetz told DCNF.
BREAKING: USSS Chief of Staff Kim Cheatle says the sniper was not on the roof where Thomas Crooks fired because it was “sloped” and unsafe.
Ironically, the snipers behind Trump during the rally were on a sloping roof.
“Especially with that building's sloping roof…” pic.twitter.com/Vg36tXr9rJ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 16, 2024
Police found the gunman on the roof 30 minutes before the shooting, WPXI reported. report After the incident, witnesses saw a man climb onto a roof and try to warn officers, claiming authorities responded in a disorganized manner. (Related article: Authorities report they found the would-be assassin about 30 minutes before the shooting)
“The truth is, no matter what the publicity, that roof was always under surveillance and guarded,” former Secret Service agent Tim Miller told DCNF.
Here's video of a 20-year-old gunman opening fire while in a prone position on a rooftop at a Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Gunshots rang out, panic ensued, and seconds later the gunman himself was shot and killed.
Video obtained by TMZ.
more: https://t.co/72O4XtmVwA pic.twitter.com/t6M8a09fbK— Michael J. Babcock (@mikejbabcock) July 14, 2024
“In this particular instance, we shared our support for that particular location and the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. Said “And we enlisted the help of local police for security on the perimeter. There was local police in the building. There was local police in the area that worked the perimeter of the building,” he said in an interview with ABC News on Monday.
But local law enforcement officials Said The New York Times reported Tuesday that local police were not in the building where the gunman opened fire, but in an adjacent building.
The conflicting accounts of these men only add to the uncertainty about who is responsible.
CBS News report Three snipers were stationed in the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Monday, local police said, and one of the snipers radioed command after seeing Crooks looking down a rangefinder minutes before opening fire. according to To CBS News.
The Butler Township Police Department declined to confirm the report to the DCNF, citing an ongoing FBI investigation.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Throop told the DCNF on Tuesday that the department “does not respond to requests for comment or opinions from the media,” declining to make additional comment.
“There are too many questions I don't have direct knowledge of and too many finger-pointings being leveled,” he said. “I oversee my deputies, not other law enforcement agencies. My deputies performed their duties in their assigned areas and went above and beyond what was expected of them, both during and after the shooting began, by helping people and assisting police with clearing nearby buildings.”
Slupe used to be Confirmed According to CNN, an armed Butler County police officer encountered Crooks and shot Trump. Withdrew After Crooks pointed his gun at him, he climbed down the ladder. Said KDKA-TV reported that there were security lapses, but noted that “the responsibility does not lie solely with one organization.”
“In this case, the Secret Service plays a vital role in protecting former President Trump, but they are not acting alone,” he told the outlet. “The Secret Service is assisted by local law enforcement agencies.”
#newA Secret Service spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that images circulating online of the Secret Service's counter-sniper team are not the team that neutralized the shooter. The sniper who shot Crooks dead with one shot was in the yellow area in the image below. @CBS News translation: pic.twitter.com/XE1QEShR7P
— Megan Schiller (@MeghanKDKA) July 16, 2024
However, Pennsylvania State Police confirmed that “no one was in the building or waiting inside the building.”
“The Pennsylvania State Police provided all resources requested by the United States Secret Service (USSS) for former President Trump's rally in Butler on Saturday, July 13, including approximately 30-40 officers providing interior perimeter security,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Adam Reed told DCNF. “Of the PSP's duties at the rally, the service was not responsible for security of AGR International's buildings or property.”
Reed said he doesn't know when officers saw the shooter because it wasn't a state trooper who saw him.
Video: Trump raises his fist to the crowd after shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 13, 2024
Former Secret Service agent Jeffrey James explained to the DCNF that security “functions as a series of concentric circles” — typically there's an inner circle of Secret Service agents, a second circle that's a mix of both agents and local law enforcement, and an outer circle that's primarily made up of state and local partners.
If the person in charge on the scene tells the local police officer on the perimeter that the building is his responsibility, then whatever happens becomes the officer's responsibility.
“But if that agent did not find a local law enforcement partner and give them very clear and direct instructions, then it would be the agent's fault or negligence for not delegating that instruction,” he told DCNF.
It is unclear what instructions the Secret Service gave to local law enforcement.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger Said “The Secret Service was in charge” and “it was their responsibility to ensure security at the venue and its surrounding areas,” The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
“In my opinion, when they blame the local police, they're just shifting the blame where it's not their fault,” Goldinger told The Washington Post.
But the Secret Service statement The Secret Service on Tuesday refuted claims that it was blaming local police for Saturday's tragedy. “Any reports suggesting that the Secret Service is blaming local police for Saturday's incident are completely untrue,” a statement posted to the Secret Service's X-Page said.
“It is difficult to reconcile what the chief said in his ABC interview with the public statements he has made on social media,” said Patrick Yoesu, national president of the Brotherhood of Police. Said “Our goal is to provide the Secret Service with all the support they need to carry out their mission and to do so with mutual respect, trust and precision,” the statement said in a Tuesday press release.
Real Clear Politics report On Sunday, U.S. Secret Service public affairs director Anthony Guglielmi suggested funds from a Trump rally had been diverted to an event where first lady Jill Biden was speaking. was denied This was the truth.
Questions remain as to why Crooks wasn't eliminated sooner, with Cangelosi telling the DCNF that counter-snipers could face challenges due to the long distance from their target.
“With a counter-sniper, it's usually so far away that it's not clear if the individual is an immediate threat,” Cangelosi said. “It's difficult to gauge. If the individual is a threat to life or a threat to cause serious injury, then the sniper can open fire.”
Yakumetz questioned why drone coverage had not been used.
“A strategically placed drone several thousand feet above the ground could have monitored the entire venue,” he said.
“In my opinion, a detailed, thorough and very specific investigation into all the procedures needs to be carried out. [and] “This entire matter needs to be investigated by an unbiased, outside investigative group, likely a retired investigator,” Yakmetz told the DCNF, stressing that the investigation should not be “politically motivated.”
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer Announced Cheatle is scheduled to testify Monday at a committee hearing on July 22. President Joe Biden Said He said Sunday he was leading an “independent investigation” into the incident.
The FBI told the DCNF that it has “nothing to provide at this time beyond its previously released statements.” Said Police said Monday they had accessed Crooks' cellphone and “conducted approximately 100 interviews with law enforcement personnel, event attendees and other witnesses.”
Trump suffered an ear injury and two others were killed, including Crooks and former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50. Two other attendees were also injured in the attack.
The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Wallace White and Owen Klinsky contributed to this report.
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