More Troubling Trump Shooting Details Surface, Show Massive Security Failure
Donald Trump's would-be assassin was identified as suspicious long before the shooting started.
The former President and current Republican nominee was shot in the ear Saturday during a Pennsylvania rally when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on him.
It's a miracle Trump is alive. The bullet came within a fraction of an inch of hitting his skull and ending his life. A slight turning of his head as bullets started flying made all the difference in the world.
One of the questions many people have is how did Crooks manage to get on an unguarded roof to carry out the shooting. Well, new details paint a dark picture of the massive security failure that happened.
New Trump shooting details surface.
It's now being reported that law enforcement and Secret Service were aware of Crooks long before he nearly killed Donald Trump. Republican Senator John Barrasso claims the USSS informed lawmakers that Crooks was identified as suspicious more than an hour before he shot Trump.
"He was identified as a character of suspicion because [he had] a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred. So, you would think over the course of that hour, you shouldn't lose sight of the individual. Somebody ought to be following up on those sorts of things. No evidence of that happening at all," Barrasso told Fox News following a briefing between Senators and Secret Service.
A Secret Service agent was on the phone with local law enforcement about the threat when the shots were fired, according to the same Fox News report.
"The American people shouldn't feel comfortable with this. This is a total failure [on behalf of] the Secret Service. We need replacement at the top," Barrasso further explained.
Donald Trump's would-be assassin was identified as suspicious more than an hour before the shooting. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The more details that surface, the more troubling the situation gets and the worse it looks for the Secret Service. Why was Trump even brought out on stage if there was a suspicious person that was unaccounted for and not cleared?
Furthermore, why was the building Crooks fired from not secure? The USSS director Kimberly Cheatle claims the roof being sloped resulted in it being guarded from the ground.
Multiple former Tier One operators told me a roof being sloped absolutely doesn't mean guys can't be on it. The roof the counter snipers were on was also sloped.
There's simply no excuse for how poorly this was handled across the board. Again, Trump is very lucky to be alive, and the American people deserve accountability. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.