Secret Service Under Scrutiny: Homeland Security Secretary Calls Rally Shooting A ‘Failure’
EY FACTS
The House Oversight Committee is expected to be briefed by the Secret Service about the response to the Trump rally shooting on Tuesday, CNN reported, and Cheatle was on Sunday called to testify before the Committee on July 22.
Mayorkas on Monday told CNN the government will "deliver answers to the American people to the fullest extent possible" after an independent review of the Secret Services’ response focused on how the Saturday shooting happened and finding ways to "make sure it doesn't happen again."
The comments from the Homeland Security Secretary came shortly after CNN reported the Secret Service did not sweep the building on which suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was perched on the roof with an AR-15 rifle despite it being less than 200 yards away from where the campaign rally was taking place, and instead relied on local law enforcement agencies to handle security at that location.
Pennsylvania State Police has said it was not responsible for the area.
On Monday, Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, spoke out about the incident for the first time and praised parts of the agency's response—including the shooting of Crooks by a counter sniper team— while also promising to fully cooperate with an independent investigation ordered by President Joe Biden.
She added that the agency is "confident" in the security measures that have been put in place for this week's Republican National convention and that the Secret Service has made changes to Trump's security detail since Saturday.
The rooftop from which Crooks managed to shoot Trump had been identified by the Secret Service as a potential security vulnerability, NBC News reported Sunday night citing two unnamed sources.
KEY BACKGROUND
Trump, 78, was shot shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday when a lone gunman, later identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Crooks, fired several shots from the roof of a building outside his campaign rally. Trump ducked behind a podium and was quickly surrounded by Secret Service agents, who ushered him off the stage. Blood was visible on the right side of Trump’s face as he pumped his fist into the air. Trump later said he was "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” One person, a 50-year-old man named Corey Comperatore, was shot and killed while shielding his wife and daughter from the gunfire. Two other Pennsylvania residents were in critical but stable condition as of Sunday afternoon. Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers, and an FBI-led investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Crooks was a registered Republican who was too young to have ever voted in a presidential election. Authorities said they found explosive materials in the young man’s car and home, but have said they don’t know what motivated Crooks to shoot at Trump.
TANGENT
In the days since the shooting, videos and stories from rally attendees have circulated showing members of the audience noticing Crooks stationed on the nearby roof and attempting to alert authorities. One video, which has circulated widely on Twitter, shows people noticing Crooks and yelling to police "he's on the roof, right here" with several others pointing in his direction. One attendee, named Ben Maser, said he saw the alleged shooter moving "from roof to roof" and reported it to a police officer multiple times before gunshots began. Another witness, Greg Smith, told the BBC he pointed the gunman out to police and tried to alert authorities for three or four minutes before the shooting.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
"I'm thinking to myself 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage?” Smith said. “The next thing you know, five shots ring out.”
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