Security disaster

Trump shooter fired from the roof of a police station

Thomas Matthew Crooks shot from the roof of a building where three agents were located.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AP/Gene J. Puskar)

The Secret Service and the local security forces failed across the board in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump! The biggest criticism is that the roof in the immediate vicinity of the former US president was not secured. Now it turns out that the chain of errors goes much deeper.

When Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto the roof near the campaign event, the security apparatus had apparently long since registered the shooter. A police officer familiar with the operational plan from the Butler attack site revealed to CBS that three snipers from the local security agency were positioned in the building complex from which the shots were fired.

One of the agents in the building saw Thomas Matthew Crooks outside the window, who looked up at the roof, observed the building and then disappeared. The assassin returned, according to CBS, sat down and looked at his cell phone.

Agent photographed assassin
At this point, one of the snipers took a photo of him. Crooks took out a range finder and the sniper radioed the command post. Crooks disappeared again and then returned a third time with a backpack.

The snipers called in and advised that the 20-year-old had a backpack with him and was walking toward the rear of the building.

A woman shouted to the emergency services: "He's there. On the roof!"

Around the same time, event attendees became aware of Crooks (see tweet above). Police officers believe at this stage that the assassin may have used air conditioning to get to the roof.

Thomas Matthew Crooks shot from the roof of a building where three agents were located, according to CBS.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AP/Gene J. Puskar)

When backup arrived, the shooter had already climbed onto the building and was above and behind the snipers inside, the small-town police officer added. As krone.at previously reported, a local officer tried to climb onto the roof. However, he retreated when it became clear that Crooks was armed. The 20-year-old then opened fire.

First warnings about two minutes before shooting
The shooter's building was outside the Secret Service-guarded security area, where visitors had to pass through a metal detector before entering.

An analysis of the publicly available videos shows that event participants drew attention to the assassin around two minutes before the first shot was fired. The police officer's account now suggests that security forces on site registered the assassin even earlier, but completely misjudged the situation. It is not clear when and how information was passed on to the Secret Service.

Sniper team 2 took out the assassin.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Google Maps)

Federal police also rushed to the scene based on the radio transmissions, according to CBS, but by that time a Secret Service sniper had already killed Crooks. The 20-year-old was taken out by the southern team on the rooftops behind Trump (see graphic above). The northern snipers' view was obstructed by a tree.

The biggest questions remain: What went wrong in the communication? When was Crooks identified as a potential threat? Why wasn't Trump escorted off the stage earlier?

The air is getting thinner for the Secret Service
The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, has acknowledged mistakes during the Trump rally, but has ruled out resigning. "I am the director of the Secret Service, and it is my job to ensure that we conduct an investigation and provide the necessary resources to our employees." The head of the Secret Service described the assassination attempt as "unacceptable".

Cheatle does not want to resign.

(Bild: AFP/KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI)

US President Joe Biden has ordered an independent investigation into the incident. Her agency is aware of the importance of the Biden review and will "participate fully", explained Cheatle, who sounded different immediately after Trump's narrow survival. 

Cheatle praised the reaction of her agents
The Secret Service chief sent a memo to her agents on Sunday in which she praised their response to the shooting: "The Secret Service acted quickly in this situation and neutralized the threat."