Snipers were positioned inside the building where a gunman climbed onto the roof and attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.
The source said the local sniper team was from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit.
The team, according to the source, was located on the second floor, overseeing the crowd at the rally.
Trump’s attack calls into question the Secret Service’s relationship with local police
The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump – the worst security failure by the US Secret Service in four decades – has pitted the agency against local authorities, as both say the other was responsible for the building’s security. where the shooter was perched.
The public discrepancy represents a significant departure from a normally close and successful relationship between the Secret Service and local law enforcement and could lead to an erosion of trust that will put even more pressure on security operations.
Responsible for a long list of protectees, as well as the occasional foreign dignitary, the Secret Service manages thousands of trips requiring protection – an enormous burden that requires assistance from local authorities.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said local police were inside the building at the time of the shooting and that it was their role to protect the building from about 400 to 500 feet away. , but outside the controlled perimeter and with a direct line of sight to the event.
“There were local police in that building — there were local police in the area who were responsible for the outside perimeter of the building,” Cheatle said.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that shooters were inside the building. The local sniper team, drawn from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, was located on the second floor, keeping watch over the crowd at the rally, the source said.
A former Secret Service agent disagreed with Cheatle placing so much blame on local authorities, telling CNN: “The Service is responsible for everything, not just the internal perimeter. They should make sure all of this is covered.”
“Police officers inside a building — that doesn’t mitigate a vulnerability on high ground,” the former agent said.
A Secret Service spokesperson told CNN on Sunday (14) that the agency did not sweep the building where Thomas Matthew Crooks lay face down and fired several shots at Trump.
Instead, the spokesperson said, this would have been the responsibility of local authorities – a routine operational decision – and that there should have been someone assigned to the post.
Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents more than 1,200 Secret Service officers and agents, stressed that state and local law enforcement are invaluable partners with the Secret Service and that the relationship is built on trust.
“There will be an erosion of this trust caused by the reckless statements of the Secret Service,” Pasco told CNN. “This is something of a betrayal of Secret Service leadership by the brave men and women who go there and do extraordinarily excellent professional work every day.”
“Secret Service agents and officers, the men and women who were there were heroes on Saturday,” Pasco said. “They were let down by a management plan.”
The former Secret Service agent told CNN that investigators will need to determine whether there were sufficient assets or personnel authorized by Secret Service leadership, and it will be necessary to determine whether local police failed to maintain the integrity of their area of responsibility.
“None of this changes the fact that, given the realities of the terrain and line of sight of this event, the perimeter is not nearly expansive enough and is, in fact, dangerously close from a protective operations perspective,” said the source.
Pasco, however, also objected to Cheatle’s delay in answering questions and issuing a public statement.
She told ABC News: “The buck stops with me.”
Pasco responded to CNN: “Apparently, it took two days for the ball to stop.”
Video: Shooter was seen two minutes before Trump was shot
Images recorded by participants at former American President Donald Trump’s rally last Saturday (13), in Pennsylvania, show that the person responsible for the attack on the Republican candidate was identified approximately two minutes before opening fire.
In the recording, Trump supporters can be heard shouting that there was someone on the roof and Butler County police officers surrounding the building.
Still, the shooter manages to stay in position and shoots Trump. The 20-year-old man is only killed six seconds after the attack begins, by a Secret Service sniper who was about 100 meters away.
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