The rooftop from where a gunman shot former President Donald Trump had been designated for local law police to monitor after the Secret Service identified it as a potential vulnerability at the rally site, according to multiple reports.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by law enforcement Saturday after he shot at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One spectator was killed, two others were injured, and Trump was shot in the ear.
Crooks fired his semiautomatic rifle from the roof of a manufacturing plant located about 148 yards from where Trump was speaking.
CNN reported Monday that one of two local countersniper teams were supposed to cover the building where the gunman was perched. It had been a designated post in the operational plan.
NBC News reported Sunday night that Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the rooftop had been designated to be under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement.
The Secret Service often works with local law enforcement to maintain event security, especially at outdoor sites.
"Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof," a former senior Secret Service agent told NBC News.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger pushed back on local authorities being in charge of monitoring the rooftop despite saying his office had deployed four sniper teams and four "quick response teams" at the rally.
"They had meetings in the week prior. The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what," Goldinger said, NBC News reported. "In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were No. 1."
Goldinger added that the commander of his office's Emergency Services Unit told him it was not responsible for securing areas outside the Butler Farm Show venue.
"To me, the whole thing is under the jurisdiction of the Secret Service. And they will delineate from there," Goldinger said.
One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump. That's when Secret Service snipers shot Crooks, said the officials, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. Secret Service said Monday it will participate fully in probes announced by President Joe Biden and members of Congress, after its agents failed to prevent the gunman from shooting Trump and the other victims.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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