Shamed Secret Service will be rightly mortified by Trump safety failures…it won’t surprise me if heads roll, says expert
THE US Secret Service will be embarrassed by their failed attempt to protect Donald Trump, a security expert told The Sun.
Trump was shot in the ear on Saturday by a gunman as he gave a speech at a political rally in Pennsylvania.
It has been claimed that Secret Service agents failed to properly secure the area ahead of the event, even after flagging the shooter’s perch as a security risk.
Shocking video surfaced today that appeared to show rally-goers shouting at police as they saw shooter Crooks climbing onto a nearby roof.
One eyewitness from the rally said cops ignored his warnings as he watched the shooter “bear-crawl” onto the roof, rifle in hand.
And another report even claims a local police officer confronted the shooter before climbing down – seconds before Trump was hit.
Satellite images from Saturday’s rally, held in a series of open-air fields in Pennsylvania, show just how close the gunman got to his target.
Chris Phillips, former UK Counter Terror chief and an expert in securing large events, spoke to The Sun about the “complete circus” that unfolded.
He told us: “It couldn’t have gone worse really, could it?
“The whole perimeter security clearly wasn’t good or you wouldn’t let someone in with a sniper rifle.”
What we know:
- A shooter opened fire at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, attempting to assassinate the former President
- One audience member died and two others were critically injured as Trump was hit
- Dramatic footage showed the moment Trump dove behind his podium as Secret Service agents rushed to protect him
- Trump broke his silence with a statement describing the shooting after a bullet struck his ear
- A microphone captured the moment Secret Service agents screamed “Get down!”
- The shooter – identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks – was shot dead by Secret Service agents at the scene
- A witness claims he warned police about the man with a rifle on a nearby roof minutes before the attack
- President Joe Biden dubbed the shooting “sick” and urged cool heads to prevail in a rare speech from inside the Oval Office
Thomas Crooks, 20, clambered onto the roof of a building some 425 feet from Trump’s stage and lay in wait with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Chris said: “Not only should the shooter not have been able to get that close with a gun, certainly he shouldn’t have been able to get up onto the roof.”
He also told The Sun he was shocked to see the counter snipers, who eventually neutralised Crooks, not spotting him sooner.
Chris said Secret Service agents in the US could face losing their jobs over the “complete disaster” in security.
“It just seems a complete circus to be quite honest [sic],” he said.
And he added: “I think the Secret Service would be a little bit embarrassed, but also whoever is in charge of the local policing because they’ve allowed a guy to walk in.
“The Secret Service can only do so much. They haven’t got resources to patrol everywhere. So I’m sure that the local police, state police will come in for some criticism as well,” he explained.
Chris said communications between the Secret Service and local authorities may have broken down, exposing the former President and his audience to danger.
A police officer reportedly confronted shooter Crooks before he attempted to kill Trump on Saturday.
Two local officials told the Associated Press yesterday that people in the crowd alerted cops to the man on the roof.
One local officer then climbed the roof to confront Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the cop.
Incredibly, the bombshell claims say the policeman in question then backed down the roof, and Crooks shot Trump.
Bobby Chacon, a former FBI agent, also shared his confusion that the rooftop had not been secured considering how close it was to the stage.
He told The Sun: “I am very surprised that the rooftop used by the gunman was not secured and locked down.
“The rooftop was the closest high ground point with direct line of sight to the stage on which Trump was speaking. I think there was an error in planning and it would not have taken much resources or manpower to secure that rooftop.”
Bobby, a retired FBI special agent who worked in the FBI for 27 years, said: “this was a major security planning lapse”.
Meanwhile Chris warned that open-air events like the rally present “an ideal opportunity for any would be terrorists or assassin”.
And he explained how the roof used by Crooks should’ve been secured to prevent anyone from climbing it.
On top of that he said no one should’ve been able to get anywhere near the rally with a gun.
Chris added: “I’ve been involved in enough events to know that people do make mistakes… some are better than others at security.
“We don’t know the resources that were available. I mean, there’s so much we don’t know until that whatever inquiry takes place, we won’t know.”
