New data released by parliamentary members reveals that the Secret Service lacked effective security measures and provided Donald Trump with adequate protection in advance of the attempted assassination of the former president.
The Secret Service declined to participate in a safety briefing given to local rifle and SWAT team the dawn of Trump’s July 13 protest in Butler County, Pennsylvania, according to preliminary results released by the company of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. The briefing, which was led by the local emergency services division, reportedly “provided local law enforcement with images of the security perimeter at the rally– which did not include the American Glass Research ( AGR ) building where the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was located — the location of law enforcement agents, and a breakdown of security sectors on the farm show grounds.”
The extent to which Butler [Emergency Services ] ESU collaborated with Secret Service in creating and implementing the security plan for the rally is unclear, according to the report.
According to the report, the lecture addressed the possibility of aircraft use.
data obtained by Senator Johnson’s workers”. Local officials previously claimed Crooks “was able to fly a satellite and obtain flying images of the western Pennsylvania fair immediately before the former president was scheduled to speak it.” It remains vague “whether any action was taken regarding Crooks ‘ aircraft and the precise moment when Crooks ‘ aircraft was discovered”, according to Johnson’s business.
Local law enforcement reportedly informed Johnson’s group that connections between the Secret Service and the protest were” fragmented,” with local sniper and SWAT teams operating “on independent radio stations from patrol.”
According to these people, connections had to be routed to Butler ESU order, who would then relay info to either the Secret Service or another local law enforcement guards, the report states. ” It’s unclear why connections were established in this way, and whether or not local law enforcement and the Secret Service’s lack of direct communication slowed down answer times or decision-making.”
The timeline of the events leading up to Crooks ‘ assassination attempt is also disturbing. According to Johnson’s office, one local sniper “positioned in the AGR building” first spotted Crooks at 5: 10 p. m., an hour before he fired on Trump at 6: 11 p. m. Noting that Crooks” seemed suspicious”, the sniper reportedly took photos of Crooks four minutes later and then” saw Crooks again near the AGR building ]at 5: 32 p. m. ] apparently looking at news feeds on his phone and holding a range finder”.
According to the report, this reportedly prompted the sniper to report Crooks to a group of other law enforcement snipers on the scene and [he ] was instructed to report the suspect to command,” which he did at 5:41 p.m. Local authorities received confirmation that Secret Service “was conscious of the information and requested more information about the suspect’s site” at 5: 59 p. m., according to Johnson’s business.
The discovery supports earlier reports that at least 20 days prior to Trump taking the stage at the July 13 march, local law enforcement had identified Crooks as a possible danger.
The Johnson report further reveals the involvement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ( ATF ) following the attempted assassination. Local law enforcement enlisted the Allegheny County Bomb Squad and a alleged Secret Service agent on the roof of the AGR tower after Crooks was neutralized. A member of the former department reportedly requested that pictures of Crooks ‘ deceased body be sent to a phone number after determined to be that of ATF, which, according to the report, “was evidently requesting the images of Crooks for facial recognition purposes.” A person on the roof reportedly told Johnson’s business.
Johnson’s staff received an email from the agency’s acting deputy chief of legislative affairs, asking that the GOP senator’s team coordinate any of these kinds of requests through our office so that we can in turn coordinate with Main Justice and our colleagues at FBI while Johnson’s staff attempted to “establish further conversations with the individual with that number.”
Johnson’s office stated that it was unclear when Secret Service first arrived on the roof following the shooting, how Secret Service ( and others ) climbed onto the roof, why ATF would be the agency’s face recognition officer, and whether ATF actually performed facial recognition in an effort to find Crooks in the photos provided to their agent in the end.
Local law enforcement reportedly informed Johnson’s office that the Secret Service had originally intended to avoid attending the July 13 rally. It is unknown why or when agency officials reversed their course and deployed two sniper teams to the rally.
]READ: Whistleblowers: Feds Treated Trump’s Butler Rally As A’ Loose Security ‘ Event]
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent an inquiry to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle regarding agency communications showing Trump received a small fraction of the security personnel given to First Lady Jill Biden, who was present at a dinner event in nearby Pittsburgh the day of the attempted assassination. Johnson’s findings were made public the day after Johnson’s findings were made public. As RealClearPolitics ‘ Susan Crabtree reported, the letter included emails provided to Grassley’s office by agency whistleblowers revealing that the Secret Service “provided only three agency personnel for’ post-standing’ Trump’s fateful July 13 Pennsylvania rally, compared to the 12 post-standers” assigned to protect the first lady.
Following the Biden Department of Homeland Security’s repeated failure to provide Trump with more protection ahead of the July 13 rally, Grassley’s investigation into the Secret Service’s failure to prevent Crooks ‘ attempted assassination comes next.
Federalist CEO Sean Davis reported hours after the attempted life of Donald Trump that the former president’s security detail had “been asking for beefed up protection and resources for weeks, but]was ] rebuffed repeatedly by Biden’s DHS.” Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, initially refuted these accusations, but this weekend admitted to The Washington Post that the agency did in fact reject requests for more security personnel from Trump’s team.
The Federalist staff writer Shawn Fleetwood graduated from the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
