The head of the Secret Service said at a news conference Friday that the agents were on the floor in Butler, Pennsylvania. He knew Thomas Crooks owned a gun until he fired his first shot at former President Donald Trump from the roof of a nearby building. construction on July 13.
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said the firm took “full responsibility” for law enforcement that day, when one of the bullets fired through Crooks grazed Trump’s ear and nearly claimed his life.
Corey Comperatore, former Pennsylvania volunteer fire chief, shot to death.
David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, were wounded in the shooting.
“It was a failure of the Secret Service,” Rowe said. There has been greater security to prevent someone from climbing on that roof. “
“We have had a broader policy in that area. “
The Butler rally was the first time Secret Service countersnipers were deployed to target Trump, Rowe revealed. It was a member of that team who fired the only shot that killed Crooks and likely stopped further bloodshed.
“My understanding is that he didn’t know the shooter had a gun until he heard the gunshots,” Rowe said.
Now there will be counterattacks for Trump, his running mate J. D. Vance, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and his running mate once they are announced.
Crooks was known as a suspect because, in the first place, he was prowling in the field of collecting in Butler.
Col. Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, had previously told lawmakers that Crooks had pointed his rifle at an officer “seconds before” the first shot. Obviously, this incident was not reported in time for the secret on the spot to be revealed. Rowe stated that There may simply have been a radio communication on this subject that the Service was not aware of.
Jeff James, a retired Secret Service special agent, told Fox News after the news conference that the agent who radioed the remarks may also have been “trampled” along with other messages, and that Butler’s spotty cell service could have been “trampled” also played a role.
“These occasions are a monster,” James said.
Rowe said his team is re-analyzing where he places agents.
“We need to discourage other people from thinking about doing something like this again,” he said. “Whether it’s an indoor or outdoor location, it’s up to the Secret Service to make sure we create an environment. “
Rowe said the company will begin deploying drones at rallies and other occasions in the future. In the past, he told Congress that mobile riots delayed the Secret Service’s launch of a drone he planned to use to protect the Butler site.
“One of the adjustments I implemented when I was acting director is that we will now leverage the use of sights and unmanned aerial systems,” Rowe said.
“We are in the process of deploying those resources. We have had greater visibility on some of those considerations at altitude. We think we may have covered them with the human eye. Obviously, we are going to reposition our technique now and we are going to take advantage of the merit of the generation and place those unmanned aerial systems.
The data provided in today’s press is consistent with what Rowe knows for “certainty” as the Secret Service investigation continues.
Rowe, who has been with the Secret Service for about 25 years, took over as acting director after Kimberly Cheatle resigned following the botched assassination.
Unlike Cheatle, Rowe went to Butler’s site.
“It definitely raised a lot of questions for me,” Rowe said of his visit. “We are in such a tense environment that we are careful to do everything imaginable to avoid the failure of the project. . . We all perceive the seriousness of this situation. “
Rowe said no officials were fired or disciplined for the events of July 13, but the investigation into the incident continues.
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