COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating
When did the Secret Service stop placing snipers on top of sloped roofs?
The question stems from comments by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, explaining why her agency did not secure what became a hostile sniper’s nest at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania. During the July 13 rally, an assailant climbed to the roof of an unsecured building and opened fire, killing one man while wounding Trump and two others.
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The roof was left open because it is set at an angle, Cheatle claimed.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point,” Cheatle told ABC News. “And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof.”
The agency did, however, place snipers on a sloped rooftop four years ago, during the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, NC.
A Secret Service photograph from August 24, 2020 depicts a USSS counter-sniper stationed atop a curved rooftop while on long range overwatch during a presidential visit.
In light of this, I have questions for the USSS.
When did you stop placing snipers on top of roofs that have a slanted pitch? Why did you stop doing this? Or has nothing been changed, and the explanation from Cheatle inaccurate?
I hope to get a response from the USSS, but as one reader advised me, I won’t hold my breath. Last week, a USSS agent took to social media to slam the media for asking questions about the hit against Trump – leaving me to wonder whether the agency encourages a culture that rejects scrutiny.
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The incident has sparked widespread criticism of Secret Service security protocols, along with calls for Cheatle to resign.
Perhaps the next question should be: What’s taking her so long?
Susan Katz Keating is the publisher and editor in chief at Soldier of Fortune.
