Secret Service Head Explains Lack of Rooftop Agent During Assassination Attempt on Trump
Butler, PA – Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, disclosed why there was no agent positioned atop the building from which an assassination attempt was made on Donald Trump. Cheatle is currently under scrutiny and facing resignation calls from lawmakers, labeling the incident a significant security lapse.
During an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Cheatle explained that the decision against placing an agent on the building, located about 150 yards from where Trump was speaking, was due to safety concerns related to its sloped roof. This building was considered a risky position for an agent because of the potential danger posed by the roof’s slope.
Instead, the strategy was to secure the building from the inside. However, this led to a critical security failure. Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb the building and establish a shooting position, complicating law enforcement efforts to locate him. Despite receiving warnings from the crowd, the response was delayed.
The building where the Secret Service snipers were positioned was also a sloped roof, and arguably with a slope steeper than the building where the shooter was positioned.
Cheatle revealed that Crooks was identified as a person of suspicion, but the rapid events outpaced the response capabilities. By the time he was located, he had already taken a position on the rooftop and fired at the former president. Interestingly, Cheatle noted that the snipers protecting Trump were positioned on a building with a comparably more severe sloped roof.
