The Trump staff cannot believe the "incompetence" scenario that various circles within the US are trying to promote. The executioner according to newer information fired five shots (other information states eight shots) undisturbed before falling dead.
All the movements of Secret Service, FBI and Police agents have been put under the microscope.
Kevin Rozek, head of Trump's security team at Butler's campaign rally, was forced to admit at a press conference after the incident that it was "surprising that a gunman was able to open fire on the speaker's podium before the shooters Secret Service kill him."
Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee , in turn today advocated opening a congressional investigation into whether there were deficiencies in the security system of the meeting in which Donald Trump was targeted.
"Our democracy dodged a bullet yesterday ," he told CNN. "We have the right to criticize and be responsible. We saw yesterday the incredible commitment [of Secret Service agents] to protect former President Donald Trump and (…) how they put their lives on the line, but at the same time, we also saw the failure of the larger network that was supposed(!) to protects the president."
Watch here another impressive video.
How could our Secret Service allow a shooter with a full rifle kit crawl onto to the closest roof just 400 feet from Trump?
Blake Hall, founder and CEO of ID.me and a US Army veteran, said:
“I was the sniper officer and led hundreds of combat missions. There were major security gaps in the security plan that allowed a sniper to engage President Trump from 130 meters away – an easy shot.”
2) The question is how the shooter was able to crawl along a rooftop, armed with a rifle, to get within 130 meters of Donald Trump.
3) Furthermore, why were warnings from the public ignored or not acted upon? And why, people will ask, with a high-stakes presidential election just four months away, hasn't the Secret Service done a better job of protecting the man many believe will be America's next president?
4) Several analysts stand by the fact that a proper autopsy of the site was not done and the spot from where the shots were fired was not sealed even though it was very close to the gathering place.
The argument makes sense not only because 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to fire five shots, wounding Trump and two other people, while another fell dead, before being neutralized by sniper fire. The outcome could have been very different if Crooks had an accomplice or accomplices who could have continued to shoot at Trump killing him.
5) The huge American flag flying above Trump's head served as a wind indicator, indicating wind speed and direction – such indicators are used at all military/security shooting ranges, such indicators should have been banned by the security.
Steve Nottingham, a retired SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officer of the US police, expressed what millions of people around the world have been thinking in the last few hours:
How is it possible that he went unnoticed by dozens of police officers, uniformed and undercover, many of whom are specially trained to prevent and neutralize similar attacks, hence they were chosen for the personal guard of a former President of the USA.
Steve Moore, a retired FBI special agent who worked for two years as a sniper, told CNNi that the roof should have been guarded.
Another retired FBI agent, Bobby Chacon, also told CNNi he was surprised no one was guarding the roof, which he called "the perfect spot."
“This building… is the closest building with a clear line of sight to where the scene was. I'm shocked they didn't have someone on the roof ," Chacon said.
American and international media repeatedly reproduce eyewitness accounts of the unimaginable and unacceptable inaction shown by the officers of the security forces deployed at the site of Donald Trump's campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Witnesses report that Donald Trump's bodyguards were warned 3-4 minutes before the attack that there was a man moving from rooftop to rooftop in buildings across from the stage where Trump would soon be taking the stage.
One citizen, in particular, said that both he and some of his friends vividly pointed out to officers where they had seen the man creep toward where he would eventually raise his gun to aim at Trump, from a distance of about 125 meters.
Although the most remarkable thing is that the attacker moved high, at a distance of several meters from the ground, without mixing with the crowd. He had made sure to wear neutral clothing, as a variation on the sheet metal on the roofs of the buildings where he moved, so as to stand out as little as possible from the surroundings.
Even so, however, the fact that he was at the ideal for him - and obviously predetermined - shooting point, irreparably exposes the security officials.
Speaking to reporters after the attempt, an eyewitness recounted how “we saw the guy crawling, probably moving on all fours like a bear, into the building next door, about 30 meters from where we were. We watched him move on the roof and we saw that he had a rifle, the weapon was clearly visible."
The same witness added that “the police were a little further away and they were walking around, while we showed one of them the guy on the roof with the gun. The police reaction was 'hey, what are you saying now?' They hadn't smelled anything. And we were shouting 'there, on the roof, he has a gun, we can see him from here'. At the same time I thought 'why is Trump still talking? Why hasn't he been taken off the stage?'
In the next few seconds, the would-be assassin started shooting.
According to the New York Times, he fired 8 shots at Donald Trump.
The near-miss was identified shortly after his execution on the spot as Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He used an AR-15 style rifle, semi-automatic, which has a range of over 150 meters for precision fire, so technically it was a weapon suitable for the action Crooks had planned.
The reaction of the guards, in retrospect, was immediate and correct. Except that Trump could already be dead, which is why there are heavy criticisms of how the security, prevention, screening, etc. protocols worked—that is, didn't work.
From what can be seen so far, the police did not pay attention to the voices of the citizens and did not mobilize. Based on what followed, underestimating crowd cues and inaction would prove criminal.
Even for FBI agents, it is considered inexplicable that the attacker managed to reach the firing point, literally "under the noses" of the guards.
The tragic failure of the competent guards to deter the attempt, especially since the perpetrator had been noticed by the citizens, has caused outrage in US institutions. Already, Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the US Secret Service, has been called to testify before a special committee of the US House of Representatives on July 22.
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