As Donald Trump spoke on stage on Saturday, for two long minutes, Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to take up position 140m away with a semi-automatic rifle.
People in the crowd attempted to warn law enforcement officers at the Butler Farm Show grounds but to no avail.
Analysis of aerial and satellite imagery of the site, along with videos taken at the event, shows the extent of security failures both inside and outside the perimeter of the protest prior to the attack. assassination attempt about the former president.
The United States Secret Service faces a number of important questions about the “shocking” handling that day, said Charles Marino, a former spy assigned to protect former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, and Joe Biden when he was vice president.
He said failing to lock down the building where Crooks shot and injured Trump was a serious mistake.
“That building would give secret service guys like me goosebumps,” Marino said.
“I probably wouldn’t take my eyes off that building when I first walked up to it, for at least 10 minutes. I would think about ways I could get it out of the way.”
In addition to that failure, a series of warnings went unheeded — red flags that former agents said should have prevented the attack. trumpet from the moment I stepped on stage.
“We failed,” said Mike Olson, another former agent. “The responsibility lies with Secret Service“ .
Warnings go unheeded
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the Toronto Globe and Mail that police officers spotted Crooks acting suspiciously near a scanner at the entrance to the event venue before Trump began speaking.
Slupe said a photo of Crooks was circulated, but police did not know he was armed and lost track of him.
Law enforcement then failed to respond to warnings about the 20-year-old gunman. According to video evidence and crowd testimony, people tried to raise the alarm for at least two minutes.
6:03 PM: As the 78-year-old former president took the stage just after 6 p.m. — an hour later than scheduled — the gunman had already made his way onto a rooftop outside the event area.
6:05 PM: As Trump began addressing the crowd, people outside the fence noticed Crooks. Greg Smith told the BBC that he saw someone “crawl like a bear on the roof” a few minutes after Trump spoke and called the police.
6.09 pm: Four minutes into the speech, Mike and Amber DiFrischia noticed Crooks and began recording him. DiFrischia told CNN that his wife spoke to nearby police.
“My wife ran to law enforcement — trying to tell them, you know, where he was, but they couldn’t seem to see him because they weren’t in the right position to see him on the roof. They were too close to the building,” DiFrischia said.
At this point, Ben Maser, who was also outside the perimeter, said he told police about Crooks twice. “I saw him moving from roof to roof,” he said.
6:11 PM:Two minutes later, a video shows a person in the crowd desperately shouting “he has a gun” and trying to get the attention of law enforcement as people begin to panic.
Slupe told the Financial Times that a local police officer pulled himself over the edge of the roof seconds before Crooks opened fire, but the officer was forced to lie down after Crooks pointed a gun at him. “The police officer, in a smart and proper way, let go,” Slupe previously told CBS News.
Another video, taken from the stands behind the stage, shows a handful of people running away from the building where the shooter was stationed. A nearby police officer takes a few steps toward the building, then backs away as shots ring out.
Snipers take aim… but not fast enough
As the shooter aimed at former President Trump, snipers on the roof of a building behind him appeared to notice something was amiss. Photos on social media showed them standing and monitoring the area with binoculars.
Just before the first shot is fired, they squat down and look through the scope at the shooter.
6:11 PM: As Trump pointed to the graph on the screen next to him, many people on the ground turned and paid attention to the shooter.
Suddenly a series of three shots rang out, followed by another series of five. FT analysis of the audio from multiple videos showed that all of these sounds came from the same gun.
As Trump fell to the ground, clutching his right ear, two sniper teams on the roof of the building behind the former president quickly shifted their sights to the shooter.
“Snipers don’t usually sit there with their weapons ready — they usually [there] “Use binoculars to look for problems,” said former agent Olson.
“They are using their weapons to be able to deal with the threat. So something is going on and we know there is a higher level of concern.”
FT analysis of the snipers’ positions shows that the northern pair, although closest, did not have a line of sight to the shooter — there was a large tree between their perch on the barn and the shooter’s position.
Analysis of the southern pair’s positions shows that they have a much clearer view, without the trees blocking them. However, some rooftop positions are out of sight for both teams, creating additional risks.
“If the trees block that view … that’s where it becomes even more important,” Olson said. “That’s why we want to have other resources and assets besides the trees and the parking lot.”
Immediately after the second volley, a single gunshot with a different sound rang out as a sniper fired at the shooter. Ten seconds later, another shot rang out.
While the crowd was still scrambling for cover, on-stage microphones picked up the secret service agents saying “the shooter is down.”
The building is not protected.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told ABC News that officers from neighboring counties were inside the building where the shooter opened fire, which is typically a manufacturing facility.
“In this particular case, we shared support for that particular location… we sought support from local partners for the outside area,” she said.
The building’s steep roof meant “there was a safety factor… we didn’t want to put anyone on the steep roof,” she said. However, according to images of the event, snipers were also on the steep roof.
A decision was made to secure the building from the inside. However, the location of the local force remains controversial, with one local official telling the New York Times that the officers were actually in an adjacent building.
Former Secret Service agent Marino said the Secret Service often scouts event locations in advance as part of a “protection operation” to help create a security plan that is shared with local police.
“This should include mitigating risks that are identified early on,” he said. Such measures could include blocking any potential shooter’s line of sight, he said.
At least a dozen sheriff’s deputies and police officers assisted the Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police with security. The Secret Service has overall responsibility for such events and typically operates a joint command post, former agents said.
Slupe admitted to CBS that there was a failure to secure the facility the shooter used to open fire, but said the investigation should continue.
“My deputies have carried out their duties in the assigned areas and have always done a good job,” he said.
Sheriff Tony Guy of nearby Beaver County told the FT that his three deputies supported the protest, but maintained that “they operated exactly within the guidelines” set out by the Secret Service.
In a social media post on Tuesday, the Secret Service said it was “extremely grateful” for the “unwavering commitment” of its local partners. “Any reports that the Secret Service is blaming local law enforcement for Saturday’s incident are completely untrue,” it added. It did not respond to a request for comment.
High risk environment
Former Special Agent Olson said an outdoor event with a large crowd is “one of the most difficult and potentially risky environments to protect.”
He added that “fatigue” or “complacency” could cause security teams to let their guard down.
Both former agents criticized the day’s media coverage, but praised the quick response of the snipers and Trump’s security team, who shielded him with their bodies and loaded him into an armored vehicle.
Both called for prompt and independent investigations.
The evidence investigators have “should be very clear,” Marino said. “This shouldn’t take months and months and months. Because there are conspiracy theories and other nonsense out there, and it needs to be put to rest quickly.”
