They expressed alarm that a vantage point so close to Trump — around 120-150 meters away — had not been secured.
“That building… is the closest building with a clear line of sight to where the stage was. I’m shocked that they didn’t have somebody on that roof,” FBI field agent Bobby Chacon told CNN.
Steve Moore, a retired FBI agent and counter sniper, said botched “planning or execution” may have left the roof unmonitored.
“They could have planned for that roof and maybe something happened in the planning or in the execution of the plan where it was left unguarded,” Moore told the US network.
He said there would likely be “drastic changes” to security protocol going forward.
“The secret service has to be right every single time, every single rally of every single candidate of every single month, every single year, they’ve got to be perfect”, Moore said.
- The FBI has named Thomas Matthew Crooks as the attacker in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
- The 20-year-old was a registered Republican, according to voter records cited by the AP news agency.
- Trump is “safe” after being escorted off the stage with blood on ear and cheek after shooting at a Pennsylvania rally.
- Secret Service says its personnel killed the suspected attacker; one spectator was killed and two others critically injured in the shooting.
- Mike Johnson, speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, has said panels in the chamber will soon bring in officials from the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for hearings.
- Politicians from across the spectrum offer support to Trump, with President Joe Biden saying “there’s no place for this kind of violence” in the US. Leaders from across the world also condemned the attack.
