The US Secret Service had identified the roof from which they attempted to assassinate former president and future Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trump, as a potential security risk days ago, according to a report NBC.
Two sources close to the Secret Service admitted to NBC that the officers in charge of preparing the security device before the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, were aware of the danger posed by that building.
The roof belonged to a warehouse located regarding 150 yards from where Trump was scheduled to speak but was outside the event’s security perimeter.
The Secret Service has said security at the building was the responsibility of local authorities, although the county attorney has argued otherwise and has denied that claim.
Details of the attack once morest Trump
Trump was shot in the ear during a rally on Saturday, July 13, in Pennsylvania.
The attacker, a 20-year-old whose motives are still unknown, fired from a rooftop near the rally, moments following several people alerted security services regarding his suspicious presence.
The shooter, who was shot dead, killed one attendee at the event and seriously injured two other people.
“I shouldn’t be here, I might be dead,” Trump told the newspaper on Sunday, July 14. The New York Postwho claimed that the former ruler was wearing a white bandage on his injured ear.
He said he was saved by turning slightly to the right to read a graphic regarding migration, which caused the shot to hit his ear.
Trump praised the Secret Service, which is in charge of presidential security, and the sniper who killed the attacker with a shot “between the eyes.”
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Security breach reported
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, under whose direction the Secret Service operates, admitted Monday, July 15, that the incident represented a security “failure.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in a post on social media.
Meanwhile, Republican Congressman James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced that he will summon Cheatle to testify before Congress next week, following the Republican National Convention ends.
The director of the Secret Service announced in a statement that, following the assassination attempt, she ordered changes to Trump’s security detail.
They didn’t detect it
The attacker was seen by local authorities near the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) metal detectors set up at the entrance to the event, according to sources cited by CNN.
Police radioed in to say they would be watching him, and that information was also passed on to the Secret Service, the station said.
Crooks was also spotted by people outside the event and alerted nearby authorities that an armed person was on the rooftop.
People alerted nearby authorities that they had seen a gunman on the roof, and shortly followingward shots rang out, witnesses told the media.
Explosives were found in the shooter’s vehicle and residence, but their strength has not been disclosed.
Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot
The FBI has identified the perpetrator of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20,
“He has marked the history of the United States by being one of the youngest people to attempt an assassination in the country since 1981, when Ronald Reagan survived a similar attempt,” the news agency described. AFP.
This data is important in the run-up to the US elections.
The young shooter was killed by US Secret Service agents seconds following he fired around eight shots from a rooftop at a distance of around 200 metres.
Crooks used an AR-15-style rifle purchased by his father completely legally, according to sources involved in the investigation.
According to local media, Crooks was a shy young man and allegedly a victim of bullying.
Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, a middle-class Pennsylvania suburb, drove regarding 70 kilometers to reach Butler, where Donald Trump was holding his last rally before the Republican convention that will officially announce him as the presidential candidate.
His political inclination and environment
Crooks, 53, the shooter’s father, told the network CNN that she is trying to understand what happened and that she will wait to speak with the authorities before giving further statements regarding her son.
The young man had graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and had earned a $500 scholarship for his math and science skills.
Acquaintances describe the shooter as a shy person who was bullied at school and who often ate alone during breaks at school. He was also frequently seen at the town’s shooting club.
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Crooks was affiliated with the Republican Party, and the upcoming November 5 election would be the first in which he would be able to vote in a presidential election.
At age 17, Crooks made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises funds for progressive politicians.
Crooks’ father is a libertarian and his mother was a Democrat, according to information cited by the New York Times.
The shooter had worked at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and was not very active on social media.
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