Split-second move may have saved Trump; security gap raises questions

Law enforcement experts question possible security failures surrounding assassination attempt on Donald Trump, express shock over would-be assassin getting close enough to injure a former US President

Two former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on Sunday expressed surprise that the rooftop, from where a gunman fired multiple shots at former United States (US) President Donald Trump's rally, had not been secured by authorities given how close it was to the stage, reported CNN.

According to the report, authorities said that the building rooftop from where the gunman fired the shots was just outside the venue where Trump held a rally on Saturday. According to a separate CNN analysis, the rooftop in question was only about 120 to 150 metres from where Trump was standing.

The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in Saturday's attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Crooks was shot and killed by the US Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired shots toward a stage where Trump was speaking on Saturday evening (local time). Trump was shot in the ear, after Crooks reportedly opened fire from a nearby roof with what appeared to be a rifle. The attempted assassination left one rally attendee dead and two others critically injured. The US Secret Service said Trump was safe after he was rushed off the stage with blood on his face.

 

Security gap may have led to Trump rally attack

The rooftop from where Crooks opened fire should have been guarded, Steve Moore, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and a counter sniper, told CNN.

According to Moore, allowing that roof to be "unmonitored" and "unguarded" could have been either a flaw in planning or execution.

Moore added that while Secret Service agents may have been alerted about the location of the shooter, they could have had a "very obstructed view" because it was possible that there was a slight wall covering the shooter in that area on the roof.

Moore also told CNN that he expects the shooting to lead to "drastic changes" in security procedures, including securing rally venues more carefully and extending security perimeters.

Retired FBI field agent Bobby Chacon also told CNN that he was surprised that no one was guarding the rooftop, which he described as "the perfect perch" for an attacker or sniper.

Speaking to the US news agency, Chacon explained that the building from where Crooks opened fire was "the closest building with a clear line of sight to where the stage was". Chacon added that he was "shocked" that the concerned authorities "didn't have somebody on that roof".

Fox News reported that former FBI and US Secret Service agents were shocked by what the report called a security breakdown during the attack on the Trump rally. Some security experts reportedly alleged that the effort to get Trump out of the danger zone was subpar, adding that this could have created a far more dangerous outcome if multiple shooters had been present on Saturday.

Speaking to Fox News, former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam said, "Having worked with the Secret Service before, as I was watching this unfold, I could not believe how long this played out before they got him (Trump) off of that stage into the car, and then it took that vehicle that long to depart that area." Gilliam added, "It was a lifetime from a protection standpoint."

Gilliam also said that he was "astounded at the way things played out" in the immediate aftermath of the attack. According to him, it appeared as if the strategy for defending Trump in the immediate wake of the attack and movements by the authorities were "being made up as they went along".

According to Gilliam, this was not the way that an elite service like the Secret Service should have been prepared for such an incident.

Meanwhile, former assistant FBI director Chris Swecker, also speaking to Fox News, said, "It was almost a kill shot as it was."

Commenting on the Secret Service's handling of the assassination attempt on Trump, Swecker said that if there had been a second shooter at the scene, "there would have been plenty of opportunity to take him (Trump) out again". According to Swecker, what transpired on Saturday broke "every rule of the Secret Service protocol" and also those of "executive protection in general".

Swecker criticised the security at Saturday's Trump rally as a "breakdown from start to finish".

'Split-second turn' may have saved Trump's life

A split-second decision may have saved Trump's life on Saturday during the assassination attempt at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Israeli special operations veteran Aaron Cohen told Fox News.

According to Cohen, Trump would not have survived if he had not turned his head when the shot was fired. Cohen added that "God must have been watching down" on Trump.

Explaining that snipers are "trained to shoot into the cerebral cortex" at the top of the target's "brain stem", Cohen said that given the distance between the shooter and Trump, it was "not a difficult shot to make".

Expressing the possibility that the shot that grazed the former US President's ear came within mere centimetres of being fatal, Cohen told Fox News that it was very clear to him that had Trump's head been straight, and if the bullet had gone into the ear, "it would have been lights out".

According to Cohen, the fact that Trump just happened to be turned the way he was when the shot was fired was what saved his life.

US authorities push back

US authorities handling security at the Pennsylvania rally, where Trump survived an assassination attempt, on Sunday pushed back on claims that the former President was denied requests for additional security, reported CNN.

According to the report, at least one US lawmaker has publicly claimed that Trump's requests for heightened security were turned down.

The Secret Service called such claims "absolutely false".

In a post on social media platform X, Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi wrote, "There's an untrue assertion that a member of the former President's team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false." He added, "In fact, we added protective resources and technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo".

The FBI has also pushed back against such claims.

During a news conference Saturday night (local time), Kevin Rojek, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, was quoted saying, "There was no additional request for security that was ever denied by the FBI."