How a sniper with full rifle kit allowed rooftop access at Trump's event? US Secret Service faces scrutiny after assassination attempt
Chandigarh, July 15
Amid assassination attempt on Donald Trump, secret service faces serious questions over security footprint and rooftop access at the ex-US President’s event.
Questions are being asked about how a sniper was able to obtain rooftop access roughly 150 meters from the former president’s position at the podium at an outdoor rally.
Sources have described the shooting as coming from the “three o’clock” position of Trump’spodium 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, reports CNN.
“How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee,” asked conservative activist Jack Posobiec on social media.
Did the Secret Service sniper fire first? Slow motion analysis. I thought maybe he did with the sound delay, but now I don’t think they took any of the first 3 shots. What do you think? #TrumpAssasinationAttempt #TRUMPASSASSINATION #SniperAttack pic.twitter.com/4tOyB7tfcb
— D_Rock (@DerekDdawg) July 14, 2024
“There will be an intensive review” of the incident and “there’s going to be a massive realignment,” said Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential detail. “This cannot happen.”
Meanwhile, the US Secret Service was under intense scrutiny after a gunman managed to evade its agents and open fire on former President Donald Trump at a political rally, with Republican leaders vowing swift investigations and President Joe Biden calling for an independent review.
The gunman, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man, injured Trump and killed a rally attendee from a rooftop perch around 150 yards (140 m) from the stage where the former president was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, officials said.
Trump, 78, who like other former presidents has lifetime protection by the Secret Service, was swarmed by agents who then rushed him away. Agents killed the shooter, identified by the FBI as
Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and an AR-15-style semiautomatic was recovered near his body, officials said.
House of Representatives, said panels in the chamber will call officials from the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for hearings. “The American people deserve to know the truth,” Johnson said.
The Secret Service, tasked with protecting current and former presidents, is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The department’s Office of the Inspector General is responsible for conducting oversight of Secret Service operations.
In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied accusations that the agency had rebuffed requests for more security resources from Trump’s team.
Paul Eckloff, a former Secret Service agent who retired in 2020, said agents would have surveyed all the rooftops with a line of sight ahead of time.
“This person either concealed themselves until they became a threat, or were not a threat until they revealed their weapons,” said Eckloff.
In the moments after Trump was injured, the former president was quickly surrounded by Secret Service personnel who formed a human shield, while heavily armed agents in body armor and toting rifles also took to the stage and appeared to scan the area for threats.
Trump was whisked by the agents to a black SUV, and taken to a local hospital, according to the campaign.
With Reuters inputs
