It’s hard to keep up with the information coming out about the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but the government isn’t making it easy because the more details emerge, the worse the government looks.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle claimed the agency didn’t put snipers on the roof where Thomas Crooks shot former President Donald Trump because it has a sloped roof. She also said that the agents didn’t have time to respond to tips about Crooks:
‘That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,’ she told ABC News in an interview Tuesday.’And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.’What transpired instead was a security nightmare: Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to scale the building and secure his own position, while law enforcement struggled to locate him even amid pressing warnings from members of the Trump crowd. But there wasn’t sufficient time to act on the tips, she explained.’The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion,’ Cheatle said. ‘Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded, by the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president.’She was referencing claims by witnesses that they alerted law enforcement about the threat, but agents weren’t able to eliminate the threat in time. Officials have pointed to the initial responding officer, who lifted himself up on the roof only to lower himself back when his own life was threatened.
Uh, what? Apparently, local police enforcement had three snipers in the building where Thomas Crooks shot Trump:
The operations plan had them stationed inside the building looking out windows toward the Trump rally. The information about the three snipers being inside the building was first reported by BeaverCountian.com.One of the snipers inside saw Thomas Matthew Crooks outside and looking up at the roof, observing the building and disappearing, a local law enforcement officer tells CBS News.Crooks came back, sat down and looked at his phone. At that point, one of the snipers took a picture of him. Crooks took out a rangefinder and the sniper radioed to the command post. Crooks disappeared again and then came back a third time with a backpack. The snipers called in with information that he had a backpack and said he was walking towards the back of the building.Officers believe that Crooks might have used an air conditioning unit to get on top of the roof.
Officers called for help, but Crooks already made it to the roof. Those who responded to the call tried to get on the roof but didn’t get there in time.
NBC News learned that local police officers told Secret Service about a suspicious person before Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump:
Local police officers began pursuing Crooks on foot, the officials said. During the pursuit, the U.S. official said, local police told the Secret Service they were looking for a suspicious person near the event.It is not clear what time the Secret Service was notified and whether it was before Trump took the stage on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show, a venue roughly 36 miles north of Pittsburgh. The U.S. official said the Secret Service was told of a suspicious person before local police discovered Crooks on the roof of a nearby glass research company’s building. That discovery occurred shortly before Crooks opened fire, according to two law enforcement sources.The timing raises questions about whether other measures could have been taken to stop Crooks.
An officer told the Secret Service about a man carrying a range-finder 30 minutes before he shot Trump:
United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle made the remark in an interview that aired on ABC News just hours after Fox News Digital reported that a local law enforcement officer spotted a suspicious man carrying a range-finder just 30 minutes before Saturday’s attempted assassination in Butler.That officer reported the sighting to state police, a law enforcement source said. He took a photo, and there was a discussion about whether what he was carrying was a pair of binoculars to try and see the rally better. But then a few minutes into Trump’s remarks, the would-be assassin — identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 — began shooting, according to authorities.”I’m being told that the shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion. Units started responding to seek that individual out,” Cheatle told ABC News. “Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded, by the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president.”
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