A Trump supporter investigated the event location with a drone
Discussion on whether the campaign rally in Butler, where an attack on Donald Trump occurred, was sufficiently secured, gains new ground. The assailant was able to inspect the venue extensively before his act.
According to a report by the "Wall Street Journal," the Trump assailant was able to explore the event site with a drone right before the act. He was capable of taking aerial images of the Butler fairgrounds in Pennsylvania on July 13, only a few hours before the attack, the newspaper reported, citing law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. These findings may raise further questions about whether the event site was sufficiently secured.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was shot and injured in the ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday. The assailant targeted Trump from the roof of a nearby building. The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania. He was killed after the act.
The suspect was identified as suspicious by on-site security personnel before the act, but the trail went cold, it was reported.
The security measures on the day of the attempted attack are under scrutiny at the Department of Homeland Security. The Inspector General of the agency, Joseph Cuffari, initiated an investigation into the Secret Service's protective detail for Trump around the rally in Butler. The exact start date of the investigation remained unclear initially. President Joe Biden had already ordered independent investigations into the security measures at Trump's rally.
It was only this week that it became known that the Secret Service had strengthened security measures for Trump in the days leading up to the rally due to a tip about a threat from Iran. However, this could not prevent the attempted attack.
The Republican party has expressed concern over the Assessment on Donald Trump's rally security, given the recent attack. Despite being identified as suspicious by on-site security, the assailant, a Republican, managed to evade detection until his act.
