A SERIES of glaringly obvious security blunders at Donald Trump’s rally have raised questions after the former President was almost killed.
Millions have been left baffled after a lone gunman managed to get within a few hundred feet of Trump before unleashing a spray of bullets, missing his head by mere centimetres.
And a series of concerning reports have surfaced in the hours since Trump was grazed by one of his bullets.
It has been claimed that Secret Service agents failed to properly secure the area ahead of the event, even after flagging the shooter’s perch as a security risk.
Supporters in the crowd allegedly alerted police to the man, crawling onto a nearby building with a rifle in hand, and were ignored.
And perhaps most shocking of all, one report claims a local police officer confronted the shooter on the roof before climbing down – seconds before Trump was hit.
Satellite images from Saturday’s rally, held in a series of open-air fields in Pennsylvania, show just how close the gunman got to his target.
Thomas Crooks, 20, clambered onto the roof of a building some 425 feet from Trump’s stage and lay in wait with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Shocking reports have revealed that the roof in question was even dubbed a security risk before the shooting.
Sources close to the Secret Service told NBC that the building was assessed by agents ahead of the event.
One of them said: “Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof.”
What we know:
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi insisted after the shooting that agents worked with local law enforcement to shore up event security.
But no snipers were posted on the roof used by Crooks.
Investigators will doubtlessly be tasked with finding out why.
Bobby Chacon, a former FBI agent, shared his confusion that the rooftop had not been secured considering how close it was to the stage.
He told The Sun: “I am very surprised that the rooftop used by the gunman was not secured and locked down.
“The rooftop was the closest high ground point with direct line of sight to the stage on which Trump was speaking. I think there was an error in planning and it would not have taken much resources or manpower to secure that rooftop.”
Bobby, a retired FBI special agent who worked in the FBI for 27 years, said: “this was a major security planning lapse”.
A police officer reportedly confronted shooter Crooks before he attempted to kill Trump on Saturday.
Two local officials told the Associated Press yesterday that people in the crowd alerted cops to the man on the roof.
One local officer then climbed the roof to confront Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the cop.
Incredibly, the bombshell claims say the policeman in question then backed down the roof, and Crooks shot Trump.
One of the eyewitnesses, Trump supporter Greg, told the BBC on Saturday how they alerted authorities to the shooter.
Greg said he saw Crooks “bear-crawling up the roof of a building” just 50 feet away from the crowd.
“He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle,” he said.
“We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground – we’re like ‘hey man there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’ and the police did not know what was going on.”
Crooks was “neutralised” by Secret Service snipers shortly after opening fire at the event.
Witnesses spoke to NBC about the lax of security at the event.
Two women watching the rally from a nearby property, Valerie Fennell and Deb Kuminkoski, said they watched from Valerie’s back garden.
Located between the Trump crowd and the factory where his shooter was perched, the bullets flew over Valerie and Deb’s heads.
Valerie told the outlet her son watched the shooting unfold and saw snipers “get into position” after hearing the bullets.
But she said they didn’t see any security from their vantage point: “That I was aware of,” she said, “nothing was secured on this side”.
Fennell also expected security officials to contact her or survey her property – so close to the rally – ahead of the event.
She was surprised when they didn’t and said people were walking around within yards of Trump’s podium with no security nearby.
Fennell said there “might have been” two or three police cars, but didn’t see a big presence.
Kevin Rojek, an agent in charge of FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told press on Saturday evening that an investigation is ongoing to look into any possible security failures.
Amid ongoing questions about the Secret Service’s protection on Saturday and whether it was up to scratch, the agency has hit back.
It denied claims that it diverted resources from Donald Trump’s rally to a Jill Biden speech.
The First Lady was making a speech in Pittsburgh as Trump addressed fans in Pennsylvania.
Journalist Susan Crabtree, from RealClearPolitics, previously claimed on X: “Secret Services resources were diverted to Jill Biden’s event and away from Trump’s because they followed agency protocol applying to Trump as a former president, according to two sources within the Secret Service community”.
She said: “There were also many supplemental agents from different field officers (not Trump’s regular detail) providing security at the rally because Trump’s regular detail has been overworked (some working seven days straight), and only two counter-snipers.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service hit back: “Susan, this is very wrong.
“We did not divert resources from FPOTUS (former president of the United States) Trump and protection models don’t work that way.
“As far as ‘field office teams’, these are the candidate nominee operations teams that are added during election years for the heavy travel tempo.”
Donald Trump was shot at his Pennsylvania rally on July 13.
1pm: Doors open at the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump was expected to speak at 5pm.
4:11pm: Sean Parnell gave the opening speech.
4:35pm: David McCormick rallied the crowd.
5:30pm: Crowds were still waiting for Trump.
6:03pm: Trump takes the stage.
6:11pm: Gunshots were fired as Trump delivered remarks.
6:12pm: Trump was ushered off stage by Secret Service agents.
6:42pm: Secret Service confirmed Trump is safe.
7:24pm: The shooter and one rally attendee are confirmed dead by law enforcement officials.
8:42pm: Trump confirms he was shot in the ear, sharing a statement on Truth Social.
8:49pm: The Secret Service confirms the shooter and a rally attendee are dead. Two others remain critically injured.
