Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle disclosed the reason the agency didn't put an agent on the roof from where Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump.
Secret Service officials responsible for arranging security for Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, deemed the warehouse 147 meters from Trump's location too risky to deploy an agent.
Fraudsters managed to evade law enforcement and the Secret Service several times despite being flagged as “suspicious.” Witnesses called for action when they saw him climb onto the roof with his rifle, but the security lapse allowed him to execute his sinister plan.
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Amid growing calls for his resignation, Cheatle offered a justification for the lack of rooftop security, claiming that the building's sloping roof posed a safety risk, thereby discouraging the staff deployment.
So you put them on a roof with a steeper slope than that?
I say Bullsh*t pic.twitter.com/ZHLXyDpps1
— Jason Robertson (@JRobFromMN) July 16, 2024
The security failure allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to set his sights undetected despite urgent warnings from those attending the rally.
Cheatle claimed that due to the rapid development of events, there was insufficient time to act on the warnings, as Crooks was already in position when he was identified as a potential threat.
While acknowledging the security vulnerabilities, Cheatle remains defiant in the face of demands for his resignation, stating: “The buck stops with me”, and acknowledging that the incident was unacceptable and should not be repeated.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden misled Kimberly Cheatle by calling her his name even though he was the one who appointed her to be the director of the Secret Service. I will see:
LESTER HOLT: “Is it acceptable that you still haven't heard, at least publicly, from the director of the Secret Service?”
BIDEN: “Oh, I've heard of him!”
Kimberly Cheatle is the director of the Secret Service. A woman. Appointed by Biden.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 16, 2024
This portion of the transcript of Biden's interview with Lester Holt can as reported can be seen in the following tweet:
The transcript shows that yes, Joe Biden hurt his Secret Service director pic.twitter.com/S0h1LmiazN
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) July 16, 2024