Secret Service Identified Rooftop Security Flaw Before Rally, NBC; Witness Saw Gunman on Roof, BBC
- 'Rooftop where gunman shot at Trump was identified as a security vulnerability before rally: sources,' NBC, 7:46 PM, July 14, 2024. Two sources told NBC that the Secret Service flagged a building near the rally site as a security concern. Investigators will be scrutinizing how a gunman was allowed to scale it
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The rooftop where a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News. The building, owned by a glass research company, is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service was aware of the risks associated with it, the sources said.
“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” said one of the sources, a former senior Secret Service agent who was familiar with the planning. Understanding how the gunman got onto the roof — despite those concerns — is a central question for investigators scrutinizing how a lone attacker managed to shoot at Trump during Saturday’s campaign event.
The Secret Service worked with local law enforcement to maintain event security, including sniper teams poised on rooftops to identify and eliminate threats, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. But no officers were posted on the building used by the would-be assassin, outside the event’s security perimeter but only about 148 yards from the stage — within range of a semiautomatic rifle like the one the gunman was carrying.
The Secret Service had designated that rooftop as being under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, a common practice in securing outdoor rallies, Guglielmi said.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said his office maintains an Emergency Services Unit team, which deployed four sniper teams and four “quick response teams” at the rally. But he said the Secret Service agents were in charge of security outside the venue. “They had meetings in the week prior. The Secret Service ran the show. They were the ones who designated who did what,” Goldinger said. “In the command hierarchy, they were top, they were No. 1.”...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-rally-shooting-secret-service-identified-rooftop-security-flaw-rcna161783
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- 'Witness says he saw gunman on roof near Trump rally,' BBC, July 14, 2024.
A man with a rifle was seen on a rooftop minutes before shots were fired at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania, a witness has told the BBC. Greg Smith said the man had crawled on top of a building just outside the event in Butler County on Friday evening.
He said he pointed the gunman out to police.
"I'm thinking to myself 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage'... the next thing you know, five shots ring out." The former president was immediately swarmed by Secret Service agents and escorted away. He was seen with blood on his face and later said a bullet had pierced his ear...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4v7v2g5l1o
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