Trump rally shooting: Secret Service Director says sniper team wasn't put on guard because of ‘sloped roof’
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has said the agency did not put the guard on the roof, from where the gunman opened fire, because it was too slanted.
Amid calls to resign, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has blamed a “sloped roof” for not putting a sniper team on the building from where the shooter opened fire in an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. Cheatle claimed that the agency did not put the guard on the roof because it was too slanted. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service snipers.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. 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,” Cheatle told ABC News.
“And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she added.
Crooks had a clear line of sight to Trump from the roof, about 130 yards away. He used his AR-style semi-automatic rifle to open fire, injuring the former president and two others, and killing firefighter Corey Comperatore.
While addressing the criticism, Cheatle said “the buck stops with me.” However, she refused to step down from her post.
“It was unacceptable,” Cheatle said of her agency’s response to the rally in Pennsylvania. “And it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
“It was obviously a situation that as a Secret Service agent, no one ever wants to occur in their career,” she added.
Kimberly Cheatle’s reasoning sparks outrage
Cheatle’s explanation enraged tactical operations experts. Retired FBI supervisory special agent and Army veteran James Gagliano said he failed to understand the Secret Service boss’ reasoning. “You just have to work with the terrain you’re presented with,” Gagliano said.
Washington GOP congressional candidate Joe Kent, a former Army Special Forces officer, said on X, “This is a BS answer. But let’s temporarily accept it for the sake of the argument. You can’t get on the roof, but you identified the building/roof as a threat, so what’s the excuse for not securing the perimeter & all access points to the building/roof?”
Right-wing talk show host Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and NYPD cop, was also outraged. “The Secret Service director said, ‘don’t worry, we didn’t put someone on the roof because it could’ve created a dangerous situation.’ Like what? Someone getting shot in the head?” he said in an episode of The Dan Bongino Show podcast.