Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee, before an organization of lawmakers visibly frustrated by the director’s refusal to answer basic questions about what she admitted was a “failure. ”
Here is a timeline of events before and after July 13:
DISCORD REVEALS FUTURMP SHOOTER ACCOUNT DETAILS ON THE PLATFORM
U.S. Secret Service (USSS) first notifies the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU) of the July 13 Trump rally.
Crooks is Googling “how far Oswald is from Kennedy,” as FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on July 24.
Crooks visits the collection and spends about 20 minutes there on what the FBI considers early surveillance.
Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe said meetings to make plans and a field trip to the site with local law enforcement and security personnel were held at the agency’s Pittsburgh box office. Trump campaign.
A drone view shows the site of the police investigation into shootings at a crusade by former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Reuters/Carlos Osorio)
According to Rowe, the USSS is conducting a tour of the rally 3 days before Trump’s visit.
Crooks went to the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club for target practice, the FBI said. He trains with what is believed to be the weapon with which he ends up in the assassination attempt.
The construction of the electoral rally has begun and will continue until the early hours of July 13.
ESU conducts a briefing with local SWAT and sniper groups from Butler County, Beaver County and Washington County to get them to safety. During the briefing, they provide a 46-slide briefing highlighting which police unit is guilty of covering which spaces in the demonstration, as well as staging and sniping spaces.
Federal authorities did not attend the briefing, according to Johnson’s office. Participants in the assembly said that the USSS was not going to provide snipers for the event in the first place, but they changed course for unknown reasons.
Rowe said the Secret Service corps took their posts and a technical site security operation was launched before the site was opened to staff, vendors and the public.
Buildings adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, of a crusade for former President Trump, Republican presidential candidate, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks stops at a Home Depot in his hometown of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
He buys a 5-foot-5-inch double-decker aluminum ladder and leaves the Home Depot parking lot in a vehicle, Johnson’s said.
Two local law enforcement snipers are located on the second site of the American Glass Research (AGR) construction site from where Crooks fired, Johnson’s office said.
A state trooper blocks a highway where police are investigating shots fired at a crusade by former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Reuters/Carlos Osorio)
The criminals recorded the demonstration and spent about 70 minutes there before returning home, the FBI said.
The Secret Service opened the cover site to occasions and vendors.
Magnetometric testing of the approximately 15,000 people who attended the election rally, event and vendors began around 1 p. m.
Crooks tells his parents he’s headed to a nearby shooting range, according to the FBI. His father gave him a rifle to, according to him, order him to return to the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club.
About 25 minutes later, Crooks purchased ammunition, the FBI said.
At one point, Crooks’ parents contacted police on Saturday, hours before he opened fire on former President Trump, he later told Fox News Digital.
The mother and father of the would-be killer told police that Crooks had disappeared and that they were involved for his well-being, according to the source.
It’s unclear if they knew he owned an AR-15 rifle that belonged to his father.
The criminals bypassed the firing area and flew a drone about two hundred yards from where Trump was going to speak, according to Wray.
The FBI later said no photographs or videos were taken of the drone and that the company found no memory cards in the drone, but it was live streaming at the time and may have only seen it on its controller.
He then leaves the scene in his vehicle.
A sniper who left his position on the second lot of a warehouse overlooking the demonstration site because his shift was coming to an end saw a young man sitting at a picnic table and sent a text message to other snipers who were still there. in the building, alerting them to the guy, according to the New York Times.
Text messages received through Sen. Chuck Grassley show a counterattacker at Trump’s rally alerting other counterattackers about a young man sitting at a picnic table near AGR construction around 4:26 p. m. of July 13. (Office of Senator Chuck Grassley)
Crooks is seen in a video walking through the AGR building.
Other law enforcement officials spotted Crooks, known as a “suspicious user of interest” at the rally, about an hour before Trump took the podium, the FBI director said at a congressional briefing on July 17.
Local police briefed command on Crooks’ life before the shooting and obtained confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of his presence.
Law enforcement officials then spotted a structure of interest while assessing the area and discovered the structure outside the gathering’s security perimeter.
A sniper in the AGR construction (AGR sniper 1) photographs Crooks.
Former President Trump arrived at the election rally site via a Secret Service motorcade around 5:30 p. m. The Secret Service said it met with supporters in a secure backstage domain at the coverage site before taking the stage.
AGR 1 sniper takes a photograph of a bicycle and what appear to be two bags near the AGR building. It is unclear what happened to the motorcycle and the bags after July 13, 2024.
The same sniper sees Crooks on his phone and a rangefinder. At 5:38 p. m. m. , the sniper sent a message to the “Sniper Group” regarding the suspect, later known as Crooks, according to Johnson’s office.
At 5:45 p. m. , Rowe said, the Butler ESU countersniper sent a text message to the head of the Secret Service countersniper team about a suspicious user and sent two photographs of the individual, who later became known as criminals.
A sniper sees Crooks on his phone and a rangefinder. At 5:38 p. m. , the sniper sent a message to the “Sniper Group” regarding the suspect, later known as Crooks, according to Johnson’s office. (Office of Senator Chuck Grassley)
“They knew Crooks for not registering,” Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris said at a July 24 hearing. “The scammers were never able to breach the secure perimeter to access the room area. “
The AGR 1 sniper will have to “call command,” which he does, and then provides a description of the suspected user and the rangefinder. The sniper said the suspected user was “lurking around the AGR building,” Johnson’s workplace said.
“There was a thread,” Paris said. A photograph was taken of him at one point while pointing his finger. Suspicions have increased. . . I know this from an interview that was promptly transmitted to the command post of the secret services. “
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who reported on the assassination attempt, said a sniper “had eyes on” the suspect about 20 minutes before Crooks began shooting.
WATCH: PA RALLY PARTICIPANTS TRY TO ALERT OFFICERS ABOUT THE SHOOTER
Paris proved it on July 24: the sniper had taken a photo of the user and sent it to a chat of the “Sniper Group”.
At 5:53 p. m. , according to Rowe, the head of the Secret Service countersniper team sent a text message to Secret Service countersniper groups informing them that local agents assigned to law enforcement are after a suspicious user. “hidden around the AGR building. “
The Secret Service corps knows that local agents are handling a case involving a suspicious person, Rowe said.
The criminals were discovered with a backpack near the AGR building.
The FBI said Crooks climbed onto the AGR construction, pipes and HVAC formula to climb to the roof. He also jumped to other rooftops to get to the final position and take his photos.
Trump takes the podium at the Butler Farm Show shortly after 6 p. m. and he speaks to a crowd that surrounds him on all sides.
Neither the Secret Service counterattacker nor members of Trump’s security team know of a guy on the roof of the AGR building with a gun, Rowe said.
Minutes later, some protest participants began pointing a handgun at a nearby rooftop, according to eyewitness accounts and video footage of the event.
A blurry cell phone video shows the point of view of rally attendee Thomas Matthew Crooks crawling to a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Trump. (DJ laughs).
Law enforcement officers are wasting sight of Crooks and trying to locate him, FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told members of Congress on July 30.
At 6:06 p. m. A video from a local company shows the shooter on the roof of the AGR, Abbate said.
The FBI said Crooks saw walking on the roof of the AGR building.
A local police officer is pulled onto the roof through the officer, sees the gunman and radios that he is armed with a long gun, Abbate said.
Meanwhile, a member of Trump’s coverage team contacts his counterpart at the Pittsburgh ticket office to ask about a radio update indicating a problem that local agents were investigating near the perimeter, Rowe said.
For about 26 seconds, gunshots were heard heading for the ceiling.
Rowe said Crooks launched an initial three-shot volley and in less than three seconds, the former president’s men ran toward the level and toward Trump.
Over the next few seconds, more shots rang out.
The criminals shot and killed a Secret Service countershooter approximately 15 and a half seconds after their first shot. The countersniper fired one bullet, Rowe said.
The FBI said Crooks fired 8 bullets before being neutralized. The FBI then discovered 8 bullet casings at the scene.
TO WATCH:
The former president puts his hand to his ear and then takes cover. USSS agents surround him on stage.
Some participants think that the shots are fireworks or firecrackers; A minute passes until everyone perceives that they have to get off. Screaming.
Former President Trump, Republican presidential candidate, reacts as gunshots ring off at a crusade rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pa. , on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
USSS agents can be heard running to target the shooter, code names and shooting in express directions. The gunman lies on a nearby rooftop, about 150 meters from where Trump is speaking, with an AR-15.
A local tactical team first fired, unsuccessfully, at the would-be killer. A Secret Service agent then temporarily shot the attacker, Crooks, killing him instantly.
Police snipers return fire after they were fired while former Republican presidential candidate President Trump speaks at a campaign event in Butler, Pa. , on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A source close to the investigation into the shooting said the Secret Service sniper fired “one in a million. “The sniper may only see Crooks’ sights, as well as the most sensitive part of his eye and forehead due to the edge of the ceiling. blocking their view.
The Butler County Coroner’s Office later decided that Crooks’ cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and sent his body to the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy.
Unknown to some members of the crowd, a man, Corey Comperatore, 50, is fatally shot while shielding his wife and daughters from gunfire. Two other people, David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, were seriously injured.
Corey Comperatore, former Buffalo Township fire chief, pictured with his daughters in an undated photo from a circle of relatives. (Hélène Comperatore/Facebook)
USSS agents removed Trump from the scene and loaded him into a security vehicle. Photographers captured blood spilled on the former president’s face after his ear pierced what later turned out to be a bullet. His caravan is preparing to leave the premises and pass. to a nearby hospital.
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is surrounded by U. S. Secret Service agents at a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
USSS communications leader Anthony Guglielmi issued an official statement saying that “an incident occurred on the evening of July 13 during a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. “
“The Secret Service has implemented measures and the former president is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available,” he said. the press release.
A member of the Secret Service and the crowd at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rally, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump’s crusade published a saying in which the former president “thanks law enforcement and first responders for their swift action during this heinous act. “
“He is fine and is being examined lately at a local medical center. More important points will follow,” he added.
Trump is hospitalized and Donald Trump Jr. informs the media that his father is fine.
President Biden disputes the claim that he has been informed “of the shooting that occurred at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. “
“I am grateful to know that he is safe and well. I am praying for him and his circle of family and for everyone who was at the rally as we wait for additional information,” Biden said. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for bringing us “There is no position for this type of violence in the United States. “We will have to unite as one country to condemn it. “
Donald Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt by a gunman at a crusade rally. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
The USSS issued an update saying a gunman “fired several shots at the venue from an elevated position outside the rally site” around 6:15 p. m.
“The US Secret Service workers neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased,” he said. “The US Secret Service temporarily reacted by taking protective measures and former President Trump is safe. One spectator was killed and two spectators were seriously injured. The incident is currently being investigated and the Secret Service has notified the FBI. “
A member of the Secret Service and the crowd at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Biden’s crusader announces that he will remove classified ads from television as soon as possible after the assassination attempt on Trump.
The FBI announces that they are heading to Butler to investigate a murder.
Trump issued a statement for the first time since he was attacked that night, thanking the United States Secret Service and all law enforcement for their quick reaction to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Most importantly, I want to express my condolences to the family members of the user who died at the demonstration, as well as the family members of any other users who were seriously injured,” Trump said. “Such an act could simply be implemented in our country.
“Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I fired a bullet that went through the top of my right ear. I knew right away that something serious was wrong. I heard a whistle, gunshots and I felt the bullet tear at my skin. There was a lot of bleeding, so I found out what was going on.
A drone is seen during the police investigation into shootings at a crusade of former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
The Secret Service confirms that one user was killed and two others were injured in the demonstration.
BIDEN SPOKE WITH TRUMP AFTER THE PENNSYLVANIA RALLY SHOOTING
An explosive squad investigates a suspicious vehicle near the site of the assassination attempt in Butler.
An Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad vehicle drives to the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the alleged shooter of former President Trump, as the FBI conducts an investigation in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP Getty Images)
Trump is seen for the first time since the shooting outside a plane early Sunday morning.
SHOOTING AT Trump rally investigated as attempted murder
The FBI identifies the shooter as Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour from Butler, south of Pittsburgh.
An undated symbol by Thomas Matthew Crooks (AFP document)
Crooks is a registered Republican in Allegheny County and donated $15 to a Chicago-based Democratic PAC in 2021.
Biden a speech after the assassination attempt.
HOW THE SECRET SERVICE PROTOCOL EVOLVED AMID PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS OVER THE YEARS
Trump told the New York Post: “I’m supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead. “
“The doctor at the hospital said he had never noticed anything like it. He called it a miracle,” Trump also told the newspaper aboard his personal plane as he headed to Milwaukee to attend the Republican National Convention. “By luck or by God, many other people say it is because of God that I am still here. ”
Biden addresses the American public Sunday night from the Oval Office.
TO WATCH:
“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the desire for us to lower the temperature in our politics,” Biden said. “Don’t say that, even if we don’t agree, we are not enemies. We are neighbors,” friends, colleagues, citizens, and, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We will have to be united. “
Biden adds that he is “grateful” that Trump is “doing well” and says he is keeping the former president “and his circle of family in our prayers. ” He also offered his “sincere condolences” to Comperatore’s family.
Pennsylvania State Police Identify Shooting Victims in Attempted Assassination of Former President Trump
President Biden makes a statement on July 14, 2024, a day after his Republican rival Donald Trump was shot and killed during a crusade rally. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
Sources confirm to Fox News that the government discovered explosives, including an IED, inside a car driven by Crooks parked near the rally on Saturday.
Trump’s possible assassin had explosives in a car parked near the rally and bomb-making fabric in his home: sources
The USSS holds a press conference at Milwaukee’s Centennial Hall during the Republican National Convention.
A federal source familiar with security plans for Trump’s Saturday rally in Butler told Fox News that local authorities had been tasked with overseeing the construction where Crooks shot the former president.
The construction site from which Crooks fired was a “rallying point” for one of the local countersniper groups, according to the source, who also noted that this equipment was stationed at or near the construction site. Four groups of counter-snipers participated at the pick-up site: two from the Secret Service and two from the local authorities.
A crusade for former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is empty and littered with debris on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Cheatle expresses his deepest condolences to the family and friends of Corey Comperatore, who was killed Saturday in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and to those who were injured during this senseless act of violence. .
“The Secret Service corps at the plant temporarily moved the incident, with our counterattack team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the protection of former President Donald Trump,” Cheat said.
An unidentified guy opens the door of the house of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 years old, July 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Cheatle told ABC News that authorities knew of a user of interest prior to the assassination attempt. The comment comes hours after Fox News Digital reported that a local law enforcement officer spotted a suspicious guy dressed in a rangefinder just 30 minutes before Saturday’s assassination attempt in Butler. .
Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, at a June 4 news conference in Chicago. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
“I was told that the shooter was actually known as a potentially suspicious person. Units began interfering to search for this individual,” Cheatle told ABC News. “Unfortunately, with the speed with which things developed, during the time this individual was located, they were on the roof and were able to shoot the former president. ”
Cheatle also said there were no snipers stationed on the roof from which Crooks fired because it was tilted and posed a risk to protection. The comment drew scathing criticism.
Fox News has noted a joint intelligence bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warning of possible repeated attacks and retaliation following the shooting of former President Trump on Saturday.
The four-page bulletin, first reported through Politico, said violent extremists or others “could follow acts of violence or retaliation” in reaction to Trump’s life, according to the news outlet.
Community of FBI agents Thomas Matthew Crooks in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 2024 (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital).
The FBI remains vigilant in its efforts to detect and assess conceivable risks and, as always, we inspire the public to report suspicious situations. “prompt activity, which may pose a risk to public safety.
Butler Township Warden Thomas Knights defends the reaction of local police officers to the assassination attempt.
WATCH: BUTLER TOWNSHIP MANAGER GIVES DETAILS ON OFFCIER’S ENCOUNTER WITH SHOOTER
The Knights’ comments come amid fighting between the USSS and the Fraternal Order of Police as federal and local law enforcement receive public complaints for failing to stop Trump’s would-be assassin before he shoots him. Knights said the tension “rubbed off” on Butler.
“I think there is a misconception about the overall response. I can only speak for our officers, who went from what was intended to be the number one traffic assistance to what has become. . . a suspicious person,” said the township administrator, who supervises all Butler branch chiefs, including the police chief, Fox News Digital reports.
“I think our law enforcement did precisely what education taught them to do. . . The way the next events unfolded, that’s another thing for what I hope will be a full report on the incident to teach everyone. ”
The Department of Homeland Security inspector is opening an investigation into the Secret Service’s handling of security at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
Questions remain about the shooter’s motivations and how he was handed over to the more sensible construction near the Trump rally.
Drone view of the police investigation into the shooting at a Trump crusade rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
Cheatle told CNN that the Secret Service is “solely responsible” for security at Trump’s rally, apparently backtracking on earlier claims that local law enforcement was tasked with observing the building.
The FBI briefs congressional leaders, explaining that Crooks conducted web searches similar to Trump and President Biden, Democratic National Convention dates and primary depressive disorder. He also revealed that Crooks had visited the rally site at least once before the shooting and had had more than 14,000 photographs on his phone.
A group of senators confront Cheatle at the RNC to ask for an explanation for the security lapses, but she refuses to interact with them. As calls for his resignation mount, Cheatle says he will resign.
A USSS told Fox News that Crooks concealed his gun before the shooting.
It is not known exactly where he hid it, but when officials saw it on the roof, he was already holding it.
“We went from the golf rangefinder to the AR-15, and now we have to fill the gap,” he told Fox News.
A blurry cell phone video shows the point of view of rally attendee Thomas Matthew Crooks crawling to a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Trump. (DJ laughs).
Family and friends of Corey Comperatore gather at Cabot United Methodist Church to honor the firefighter, husband and father who died at a funeral.
Corey Comperatore’s funeral procession will take place on July 19, 2024, in Sarver, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Citizens of Butler County line rural roads from the church to the cemetery, waving American flags and watching fire trucks from dozens of Pennsylvania counties pass by before and after funerals.
Cheatle begins his testimony before the House oversight committee by admitting that the venture failed.
“The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 was the Secret Service’s largest significant operational failure in decades, and I keep him and his family in my thoughts,” he said.
“The solemn secret service project is for our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed as director of the United States Secret Service. As director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security breaches in our agency. “
U. S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle attends a House Oversight Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 22, 2024, on security failures that allowed the assassination of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt)
She promises to “move heaven and earth” so that such an incident does not happen again. After giving his speech, members of Congress questioned him about the blunders of July 13.
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. , asked Cheatle about one of his previous statements that an officer did not place him on the roof because it was leaning.
“We’re still looking at the day-to-day jobs and who’s going to provide surveillance,” or sniper cover on rooftops, Cheatle said. “But the Secret Service in general, without specifically speaking to this incident, when we provide surveillance, whether through countersniping or other technology, prefers to have a bare roof. “
Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi asks Cheatle why the rally wasn’t disrupted after other people in the crowd shouted about a gunman on the roof.
She says the Secret Service would have ruined the demonstration if they had known there was a real threat.
California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna calls for Cheatle’s resignation.
“Director Cheatle, do you agree that this is the most serious security breach since the assassination of President Reagan in 1981?”Khanna asked.
Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secret Service, at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing in Washington, D. C. , Monday, July 22, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Yes, sir, I would,” Cheatle replies. Khanna reports that the director of the Secret Service at the time, Stuart Knight, resigned.
“If you have an assassination against a president, a former president or a candidate, you have to resign,” he told him.
The hearing became tense when South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace called the director a cheater and “full of. “
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S. C. , questions United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Mace asks Cheatle if he turns over to the committee all the audio and video recordings he has, as requested.
“I get back to you,” Cheatle said.
“It’s a no. You’re whole today. You’re just dishonest,” Mace says. Early in the exchange, Cheatle denied knowing how his initial comments were leaked to the press before the hearing.
“Well, it’s bulls—,” Mace said.
Cheatle can’t or won’t answer many of the questions posed to him, adding why there were no agents stationed on the roof, how many times the Trump team called for more security, and the agents confronted the Crooks before he opened fire.
Thomas Crooks at Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (Sen. Ron Johnson)
Cheatle resigns as director of the USSS.
“To the men and women of the United States Secret Service, the solemn Secret Service project is for our nation’s leaders and monetary infrastructure,” Cheatle wrote in a letter to the firm received via Fox News. “On July 13, we do not satisfy this project. “
TRUMP’S SHOOTING SITE OFFERS BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF RALLY SCENE ‘DISORGANIZED,’ WITNESSES SAY
Cheatle said “scrutiny” over the past week “has been intense and will continue to be intense as our operational tempo increases. ”
Asked before the House Judiciary Committee if investigators had decided whether Crooks took the gun to the roof or if he had already placed it there somewhere, FBI Director Wray said Crooks had a folding stock, “so it might have been less easy for other people to observe.
TO WATCH:
“The first people who practiced it with the weapon were when it was already on the roof. And we have yet to locate someone who has been able to practice it firsthand with the weapon walking before. So that’s not for Obviously don’t say it, but foldable inventory is potentially a very important feature that can be applicable in that regard. “
Wray says that although Crooks purchased a ladder before the shooting, none were discovered at the rally site. Authorities later discovered the ladder left near his home, 50 miles from the scene of the shooting.
“So it’s clear that he used the ladder to get on the roof,” he said.
Wray later said that officials “believe the subject climbed mechanical devices on the floor and vertical pipes on the side of the AGR building to the roof. In other words, we do not believe he used a ladder to get up there. ” Wray says investigators discovered no evidence that Crooks had accomplices or co-conspirators.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. testifies before the Senate Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees about the assassination attempt.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked how it was imaginable that Trump would be allowed to rise to the level 17 minutes after reporting a suspicious person.
“No information regarding a gun on the roof was ever conveyed to our staff,” Rowe said.
“How is this possible?” Lee asked.
This data “through local police channels, is not yet transmitted or communicated to the secret services,” Rowe responded.
“I think they were facing a very critical situation and, if I’m not mistaken, they explained it on the radio. However, this never happened to us. “
Fox News’ Chris Eberhart, Jake Gibson, David Spunt, Greg Norman, Michael Ruiz, Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Audrey Conklin is a virtual reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email audrey. conklin@fox. com or Twitter to @audpants.