Secret Service faces serious questions about security footprint and rooftop access at Trump event
Sources have described the shooting as coming from the “three o’clock” position of Trump’s podium location, with shots coming from his right side. Seconds after gunfire rang out, Secret Service counter-assault snipers began shooting the suspect who was found on top of a roof.
Notably, the shooter’s location was outside the security perimeter, raising questions about both the size of the perimeter and efforts to sweep and secure the American Glass Research building, and how the shooter was able to obtain rooftop access.
Law enforcement sources say that part of the aftermath will include a review of whether the Secret Service had enough assets to protect Trump days ahead of officially becoming the Republican presidential nominee and whether procedures were followed to conduct security sweeps of the building that offered a vantage point for the alleged shooter.
“Foundationally, one of the most basic elements of site security, especially a site that’s outside and largely uncontrolled, is (to) eliminate sight lines to this space where the protectee will be either speaking or just occupying,” former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning. “When you look at that map, it so clearly points to those buildings that are within it, clearly within shooting range.”
According to CNN affiliate KDKA, a witness says he told officers that he saw a gunman moving “from roof to roof,” moments before the assassination attempt.
Ben Macer was along a fence line when he saw “the guy move from roof to roof. (I) told an officer (the alleged shooter) was on the roof,” KDKA reported. “When I turned around to go back to where I was, it was when the gunshots started, and then it was just chaos, and we all came running away, and that was that.”
Witnesses have also told reporters that they saw a person fitting the description of the alleged shooter carrying a rifle outside the security cordon of the rally before the shooting.
The shooter was spotted by local law enforcement who thought he might’ve been acting suspiciously near the event magnetometers on Saturday, according to a senior law enforcement official. They put it out over their radio to keep an eye on him- and that information was passed to Secret Service as well, according to the source.
The Secret Service does not allow any weapons inside the cordoned off areas of any event. AGR has not responded to question from CNN about the incident or security.
Authorities have identified the gunman involved in the attack as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene after the shooting.
Multiple law enforcement sources with in-depth knowledge of Secret Service operations have told CNN counter-sniper teams have wide discretion when shooting down a threat.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are already demanding answers from the agency on the security posture and hearings on the incident.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green focused on the building issue in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Sunday.
“This was a security failure at the highest level, not seen since the attempted assassination of President Reagan,” Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, running for Senate in Arizona, wrote in a separate scathing letter to the Secret Service on Sunday. “This cannot happen, and I demand accountability.”
Separately, the Secret Service and local law enforcement in Pennsylvania who assisted in securing the rally venue, as well as sources close to Trump’s campaign, have vehemently denied social media rumors that some security assets were denied.
In a statement, the Secret Service said the detail had been increased recently.
“”There’s an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
The Secret Service uses intelligence and strategic information to determine security posture.
The agency is not formally part of the intelligence community, and is considered a “consumer” of intelligence, relying heavily on relationships with agencies such as the Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
The FBI is now the lead agency investigating the attempted assassination.
CNN’s John Miller contributed to this report.
In light of the shooting incident, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have demanded answers from the Secret Service about the security posture and have even initiated hearings on the matter. House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green specifically addressed this issue in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security.
The FBI is now leading the investigation into the attempted assassination, as they have the necessary expertise to uncover the details of this incident.
