The Critical Moments That Have Secret Service Boss Under Pressure
Donald Trump was mere inches from being shot dead Saturday in what’s been widely characterized as the Secret Service’s biggest failure in decades.
The near-murder of Trump was immediately damning for the Secret Service–whose entire purpose is to protect prospective, current, and past presidents (and their families)–but the blunder has become even more mind-boggling as more details have surfaced.
That included the Secret Service conceding Tuesday that local cops were inside the very building where Thomas Crooks, 20, perched himself on a rooftop—less than 150 yards from Trump, a distance most proficient shooters consider an almost certain kill zone. Yet, those agents were unable to stop Cooks from climbing onto the roof, pulling out a rifle, and rattling off multiple shots toward the former president—one going through his ear, and another fatally striking a former fire chief who was attending the rally with his wife and daughter.