Donald Trump’s Secret Service detail was warned that local police officers were searching for a suspicious person before the assassination attempt on the former president, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official.
Following the shooting on Saturday, the agency has faced scrutiny over security lapses that allowed a would-be assassin to crawl onto a rooftop armed with a rifle and fire several shots at the former president as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump’s right ear was pierced in the shooting, and he made his entrance at the Republican National Convention on Monday with a bandage over the ear. Rallygoer Corey Comperatore, a former firefighter, was killed in the shooting, and two other attendees were seriously injured. Secret Service agents fatally shot the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Rallygoers outside the event had flagged a suspicious person—later identified as Crooks—to local police officers, the Associated Press and NBC News reported, citing unnamed officials. The attendees said they saw Crooks pacing and acting suspiciously near the magnetometers, the outlets reported.
Officers began searching for Crooks on foot, and during that search, local police informed the Secret Service that they were looking for a suspicious person near the event, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official.
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
It remains unclear exactly when the Secret Service was notified, whether it was before or after Trump got onstage at the venue.
The official told NBC News that the Secret Service was informed about the suspicious person before local police found Crooks on the roof of a building near the venue, and shortly before he opened fire. The timing raises questions about whether measures could have been taken to stop Crooks before he began shooting.
Newsweek has contacted the Secret Service for comment via email.
CBS News previously reported that a sniper had noticed the gunman before the shooting. One of the snipers stationed inside the building the shooter used reportedly took a photo of him after spotting him outside the building looking up at the roof.
Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, said in statement on Monday that the agency would “participate fully” in an independent review into security at the rally, which President Joe Biden announced on Sunday.
Secret Service personnel on the ground “moved quickly during the incident, with our counter sniper team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the safety of former president Donald Trump,” Cheatle said in the statement.
“The Secret Service is working with all involved Federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again,” she continued, adding, “We will also work with the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action.”
Cheatle is set to appear before lawmakers at a congressional hearing on July 22 to answer questions about the attempted assassination.
The FBI has said it is investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism. The bureau said it believed Crooks acted alone.
“I urge everyone—everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations,” Biden said on Sunday.
“Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job,” he continued. “I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift. And the investigators will have every resource they need to get this done.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.