Hawley: Whistleblowers allege Trump rally was considered ‘loose’ security event
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said "multiple whistleblowers" have contacted him alleging former President Donald Trump's Butler, Pa., rally last weekend was considered a "loose" security event, in a release published Friday.
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office,” Hawley wrote. “According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event.”
The Missouri senator said he has demanded answers in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the Secret Service's security failure allowing for a gunman to allegedly climb a roof and obtain a straight line of fire toward Trump at the rally.
Detection canines were not used to monitor entry to the event and detect threats "in the usual manner," Hawley claimed.
“Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas,” Hawley said. “Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”
Hawley, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, opened a whistleblower tip line in his office this week, pledging to keep the line anonymous for those who call with information.
Hawley, like some of his Republican colleagues, condemned the shooting and demanded to know what allowed for it to occur in the first place.
The shooting left the former president with a wound on one ear, killed one rally attendee and critically injured two others. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed after firing the shots.
The sloped roof of the building Crooks climbed had "safety factor" considerations, so law enforcement was inside the building rather than on top of it, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday.
There have been increased calls for Cheatle to step down, which she has rejected. She confirmed Friday she will testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday.
President Biden has directed an independent review of security at the rally. Biden said the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General has also opened an investigation into how the Secret Service handled security for the event, it said Wednesday.