Secret Service and local police point fingers at each other after Trump rally shooting

16 July 2024

FBI agents continue to investigate the history of Thomas Michael Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who was killed by a U.S. Secret Service sniper when he was attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Western Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13.

Trump suffered an ear injury during the attack, but only two days later, Trump — with his ear bandaged — appeared onstage during the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The attack is raising questions not only about the Crooks' possible motivations, but also, about the fact that he was able to carry out the attack in the first place.

In an article published on July 16, several CNN reporters explain, "The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump — the worst security failure by the U.S. Secret Service in four decades — has pitted the agency against local law enforcement as both say the other was responsible for securing the building where the gunman perched. The public discrepancy is a significant departure from a normally close and successful relationship between the Secret Service and local police and could lead to an erosion of trust that further stresses security operations."

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told CNN that "local police" in Butler, Pennsylvania were "in that building" and "were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building."

But a former Secret Service agent, presumably interviewed by CNN on condition of anonymity, disagreed with Cheatle, saying, "The Service is responsible for everything, not just the inner perimeter. They should make sure all of this is covered. Officers inside a building — that's not mitigating a high-ground vulnerability."

Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, also defended local law enforcement.

Yoes told CNN, "Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, state or federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump. They acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone at the event and we must recognize that. This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event."

During an on-air appearance, CNN's senior national analyst Juliette Kayyem noted that "the security perimeter did not include the rooftop or the potential for a sniper."

Read CNN's full article and watch the Juliette Kayyem video at this link.

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