Did the US Secret Service fail to act? FBI probes motive behind attack on Trump
‘When we have ex-president here, that guy was...able to get up on roof and take a shot’
Dubai: The FBI is probing the motive behind the shooting of former US President Donald Trump by a 20-year-old, while the US Secret Service is under intense public scrutiny.
The assassination attempt has thrusted the Secret Service, which has faced criticism in the past, into a political firestorm.
Questions are now swirling about how one of the most protected political figures, guarded by a state-of-the-art security detail, found himself just yards away from the attacker aiming a rifle at his head.
Following Saturday’s shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump’s supporters are blasting the agency for its handling of the former president’s security.
Also read
- How rally shooting could reshape US presidential election as Trump’s image takes iconic status
- AR-15: Why semi-automatic rifle used by shooter in Trump attack is one of America’s most popular and deadliest guns
- How extreme rhetoric amplified by social media is increasingly leading to polarisation and real-world attacks
- Suspected Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks got rejected by school rifle team, his former classmates say
With thousands gathering in Milwaukee for the start of the Republican National Convention on Monday, security concerns took the centrestage.
The alleged shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by the Secret Service. A bystander was killed and two others who were critically injured.
Although the Secret Service, a unit of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), provides round-the-clock security to former presidents, Trump’s appearances at mega rallies have posed unique challenges.
Some critics have claimed the agency rejected requests from the former president’s team for more protection — a charge that the agency called “absolutely false.”
“There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who leads the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
Speaking on CNN on Monday, DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas said he had full confidence in the leadership of the Secret Service, but said the shooting amounted to a failure.
“When I say that something like this cannot happen, we are speaking of a failure,” he said. “We are going to analyse, through an independent review, how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Trump returns
Trump returns to the campaign trail on Monday as the star of the Milwaukee convention — a gathering meant to fire up the grassroots that has instead been overshadowed by the attempt on his life.
The 78-year-old is carrying Republican hopes into November’s election and, is set to be anointed as the party’s champion to face his Democratic successor, Joe Biden.
Some 50,000 Republicans are descending on the shores of Lake Michigan for the four-day celebration of all things Trump, culminating in his acceptance speech on Thursday.
Before that — perhaps as soon as Monday — Trump will unveil his vice-presidential pick, a high-stakes moment that could set the tone for the final stretch of his campaign.
American law enforcement agencies have labelled Saturday’s shooting as an assassination attempt and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe.
Claims of officers being warned
Claims by some at the rally that they tried to warn officers are also fuelling scrutiny.
In one interview, a bystander told the BBC that before the shooting he and other individuals saw a man crawling up the roof with a rifle and tried to alert law enforcement authorities.
Mike Turner, who chairs the House Intelligence committee, said on CNN on Sunday said he was alarmed by the witness statements.
“The fact that we’re hearing that people knew that there was a man on this roof with a gun, and were trying to get police attention while the president was up at the podium is just incredibly cause for concern and, I think, very frustrating for everyone,” said Turner, an Ohio Republican.
Interrogations centred on the extent of the perimeter established by the security services, in particular the US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting America’s top political figures.
There have been multiple breaches of the White House complex over the years.
In 2014, an armed intruder jumped over a fence and was able to enter the building before being stopped. In 2017, another fence jumper walked around the grounds for 17 minutes while Trump was inside the residence.
Most recently, the agency faced questions about its response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
There were 33 core protectees last year, according to the agency’s most recent annual report. The agency also provides as-needed protection for visiting foreign heads of state and for “events of national significance.”
During a presidential election cycle, the Secret Service also protects the “major” candidates and their families. The Secretary of Homeland Security and a bipartisan advisory committee of Congressional leaders determine who qualifies for that protection, under federal law.
Cheatle has led the Secret Service since September 2022. She previously served in the agency for more than 25 years, including as a member of Biden’s security detail when he was vice president under Obama. Most recently, she was senior director in global security at PepsiCo Inc.
As the world pores over the second-by-second details of the events of Saturday, it has been established that the gunman was on the roof of a nearby building, around 500 feet (150 meters) from former president Donald Trump.
“That’s the most surprising thing to me, when we have a former president here, that a guy was...able to get up on a roof and take a shot,” said Richard Goldinger, the district attorney for Butler County, Pennsylvania, where the political rally took place.
“We had some law enforcement in that building, (making it) even more surprising that he was able to get up there,” he told MSNBC.
Richard Painter, a White House official under George W. Bush and now a law professor at the University of Minnesota, called for “a detailed investigation into this egregious security failure.”
“If there is a rooftop within rifle range of a president or a presidential candidate, it’s the Secret Service that should be on that rooftop.
“Have they ever heard of the Texas Book Depository?” he said, referring to the building from where Lee Harvey Oswald murdered President John F. Kennedy using a long-range rifle in 1963.
“The shooter was outside the Secret Service perimeter. What kind of a perimeter is that? We know that any crackpot can all too easily buy a high-powered rifle in the United States. The perimeter needs to be as far as the eye can see,” he added.