According to a new report by NBC News, the Secret Service identified the rooftop next to Trump’s event in Butler, Pennsylvania as a security vulnerability just days before the rally.
The agents failed to secure the building, allowing a man with a rifle to climb onto the roof, position his scope, and fire several shots at President Trump.
A bullet grazed Trump’s right ear, while two rally attendees were wounded. One Trump supporter was fatally shot.
President Trump told former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson that a last-second head tilt saved his life when a gunman opened fire from an elevated position at his Pennsylvania rally.
Trump stated that he turned his head to the right to look at a chart on illegal immigration statistics just as a bullet grazed his ear.
A witness told BBC News that the gunman was ‘bear crawling’ up the roof of the unsecured building. The witness said he pointed at the gunman for two to three minutes, trying to alert police to the potential threat.
According to the witness, police officers were running around clueless, while Secret Service agents were looking in the direction of the shooter with their binoculars.
A local police officer reportedly confronted the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, on the roof. However, the officer retreated after Crooks pointed his rifle at him.
Sources who spoke to NBC News revealed that the Secret Service identified the rooftop as a security vulnerability days before the Butler rally.
As reported by NBC News:
The rooftop where a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News.
The building, owned by a glass research company, is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service was aware of the risks associated with it, the sources said.
“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” said one of the sources, a former senior Secret Service agent who was familiar with the planning.
Understanding how the gunman got onto the roof — despite those concerns — is a central question for investigators scrutinizing how a lone attacker managed to shoot at Trump during Saturday’s campaign event.
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