You don’t need to be a political insider or pundit to know that someone at the Secret Service needs to be fired over the inexcusable security breach that occurred during Donald Trump’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend. On July 13, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, scaled a rooftop overlooking the rally area. He was less than 200 yards away from Mr. Trump, who barely escaped a fatal headshot.
The fact that bystanders pointed to Crooks armed on a rooftop, which elicited an insufficient response from law enforcement, is the overarching question in the aftermath of this attack. How did the Secret Service not know about this vantage point? Was it because Trump’s security team didn’t have enough resources, per The Federalist? How did this break down so badly, which could have led to a national crisis of epic proportions?
JUST IN - Trump shooter was spotted on the roof by law enforcement nearly 30 minutes before the shooting — WPXI-TV
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 15, 2024
BREAKING: Trump shooter was spotted by law enforcement 30 minutes before shots fired; cops even took a photo of the suspect but did not go onto the roof to investigate - WPXI
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 15, 2024
It gets worse: it wasn’t just bystanders who saw Crooks on the rooftop. Law enforcement reportedly spotted the would-be assassin 30 minutes before he opened fire (via WPXI):
Channel 11 news uncovered dramatic new details Monday in the moments leading up to the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. According to multiple law enforcement sources, Thomas Crooks was spotted by law enforcement on a roof nearly 30 minutes before shots were fired that injured Trump, killed a former fire chief, and injured two others in the crowd.
Channel 11′s Nicole Ford confirmed that Beaver County’s ESU team had eight members at the rally, including snipers and spotters. According to Ford’s sources, one of them noticed a suspicious man on a roof near the rally at 5:45 p.m., called it in and took a picture of the person. We have learned from our sources the person in that picture is Thomas Crooks. We’re told it’s not clear if Crooks had a gun with him at that point.
It dovetails off another devastating report that the Secret Service never did a security sweep of the building where Crooks set himself up for the assassination attempt.
For now, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle's job security is safe.
Nobody is getting fired as usual. https://t.co/6iQvECT0ed
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 15, 2024
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UPDATE: Wait, there were snipers IN the building?
BREAKING: Snipers were stationed inside the building as the Trump rally shooter climbed to the roof, a local officer says. -CBS News
— Breaking 4 News (@Breaking_4_News) July 16, 2024
This is insane.
These are just insane details from CBS News regarding the failure on Saturday.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 16, 2024
Snipers inside the building had spotted Crooks scoping the building, but no one actually stopped him until it was too late. https://t.co/lGVOrRdjKh pic.twitter.com/3fwXn0EDHq