Posted on 07/16/2024 11:30:06 AM PDT by Red Badger
The US Secret Service did not put agents on the rooftop where an assassin shot at Donald Trump for health and safety reasons, the head of the agency has said.
Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service director, said the “sloped roof” where Thomas Matthew Crooks was positioned on Saturday could have posed a risk to agents.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” she told ABC News on Tuesday.
“And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.”
Joe Biden, the US president, has ordered a review into how Crooks was able to gain access to a point with a direct line of sight to Trump as he spoke at a rally in Pennsylvania.
A bullet fired at Trump grazed his ear, missing his head by inches.
Ms Cheatle, who is facing calls to resign, admitted that Crooks had been spotted by the agency before he opened fire, but had not been stopped.
The rooftop was outside of the secure zone set up for Trump’s rally, around 150 metres from the stage where he spoke.
“The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion,” she said.
“Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded, by the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president.”
It came amid reports that a Secret Service sniper photographed the man who fired several shots at Donald Trump and watched him using a range-finder before the shooting.
Crooks, 20, was spotted looking up at the roof from where he would eventually fire at the stage during the former president’s speech.
The sniper snapped a picture of the would-be assassin as he sat down near the building looking at his mobile telephone and using a range-finder, CBS News reported.
Crooks was later observed returning to the area for a third time, this time with a rucksack, when the sniper radioed in the information.
A report by Fox News, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, said local officers had also spotted a suspicious man carrying a range-finder “in or just outside” the Butler Farm Show grounds before Trump took to the stage to deliver a campaign speech last Saturday.
The officer reported the sighting to the state police, with a discussion had over whether the man was simply carrying binoculars to get a better vantage point of the rally.
At this point both Fox and CBS reported that state police officers were rushing to the scene.
But within minutes the assassin, later identified as Crooks by the FBI, had already opened fire, injuring Trump, killing a spectator and wounding two others.
By the time officers had arrived, Secret Service snipers had already shot and killed Crooks, later discovering a radio transmitter in his pocket and explosives in his car parked nearby.
Crooks was said to have been watched by Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers for about 30 minutes before his failed assassination attempt.
The reports only add to the pressure being heaped on the Secret Service for the security lapses that allowed an attempt on the life of a former president.
Unconfirmed footage circulated on social media appeared to show Secret Service snipers performing overwatch at the venue moving to face in the direction of the assassin a minute before he opened fire.
The US Congress has also launched an investigation into what it described as “inexcusable security breaches” at the Trump rally.
In the prior 48 hours before Crooks opened fire on Trump, reports have detailed how he travelled to a shooting range, a gun store and a hardware store.
On the Friday before the attack, he went to a shooting range where he was a member to practice firing, a law enforcement official told CNN.
The next day, he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition from a nearby gun store and a ladder from a Home Depot.
It isn’t clear whether both the ammunition and ladder were used in the attack. Investigators believe he used an air conditioner to clamber onto the roof from where he took the shots.
The post ‘Sloping roof’ used by assassin was too dangerous for our agents, says Secret Service chief appeared first on The Telegraph.
Yes it’s looking pretty obvious now that crooked Joe was in on it, no surprise though. And he proceeded this assassination attempt with a whole lot of hints on what was about to happen to Trump. We are worse than a banana Republic at this point.
I have seen roofers on vaulted ceilings that have a steep pitch do it with no harness.
If you are blind, then yes a 5 degree sloped roof might be dangerous, especially if you are working without your white cane.
Obviously the Director hired a bunch of blind SS Agents to work this venue.
The picture of trump surrounded by SS agents is just a picture of Trump trying to lead his blind SS detail to safety. Since none of them were injured, he was successful.
No- it very much is NOT rocket science, and those simple inexpensive methods would have bagged this perp very early, as in many minutes before Trump ever came on stage. Fact.
maybe it was too steep for her diversity hires.
bookmark
Not even a good EXCUSE, much less a good REASON, Cheeto Girl.
But that nearly flat roof “identified” as a highly slopped roof!
She should tell this story to the families of people who were shot by the the 20 year old on the “dangerous” curved roof.
Or better yet have President Biden make a speech for the families and tell them the roof was too “dangerous” for Secret Service agents.
Hah.....excellent question.
And what about women on drjill’s S/S detail?
This is getting outrageous: military tribunal. It’s becoming evident this was an act of war against the American people.
If Biden’s ear was shot off I think there would be immediate massive arrests and incarcerations.
The House is “inviting” Ms. SS to testify?
Yes, Ms. Cheat-oes is going to testify next week..........maybe...............
There ya go— spot on. Balance issues for the uh... “frontally loaded” so to speak. Which, come to think of it- none of the photo’d of that detail had any front load—mostly back load. “junk in the trunk”. One looked poorly sized DEI hire for the ballistic vest worn— really looked encumbered.
But then these were “junior G-men” DHS “security” people not REAL Secret Service. And this has to be examined— no protectee of the level of Trump should EVER have had this happen. From the people who routinely hire welders to weld shut manhole covers on urban parade routes, and have drones which can fire weapons (fairly certain).
LEO's DID NOT prevent that from happening, before/during.
So based on that FACT, and knowing the resources (in 2024) they have at their disposal(unless they were mistakenly/deliberately pulled)...the only conclusion one can make is they were either...
1. Incompetent to retard-level(DEI/whatever)
...or
2. Complicit.
Period.
...and trusting the "FBI"/Garland to get to the bottom of this, is like letting any criminal organization be the chief investigators of their own crimes. = farce.
She’s a “managerial class” act.
Heh! The last time had that many slopes in my driveway... they slid all the way down after dropping them.
Rise and shine, drop your... and put on your....! USMC
That roof is inclined so entirely safe.
“Lower-level employees told her to say that”
They had to be laughing like Muttley when she said it.
Oh come on, what a bunch of panzies. What has the SS become? Oh, wait, I know, a DEI/woman led force!
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