Embattled Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has a bizarre explanation for the agency’s failure to secure the rooftop used by the shooter who attempted to assassinate former president Donald Trump over the weekend.
“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 in an exchange that was not included in the outlet’s write-up of the interview nor the published transcript.
The stunning admission that points to the security failures surrounding the failed assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pa on Saturday. It is already considered to be one of the gravest law enforcement failure in U.S. history, and many questions remain about what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.
“And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she added.
Facing widespread criticism and calls to resign, Cheatle said she will not step down from her role. She claimed that local counterparts were responsible for securing the outer perimeter at the Trump rally, and confirmed that police were inside the building Crooks shot from.
“And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building,” Cheatle said.
Before the shooting, multiple witnesses appeared to alert law enforcement to Crooks’s presence atop the roof. Cheatle said “a very short period of time” between the time Crooks was pointed out to law enforcement and when he ultimately fired upon the crowd.
Next week, Cheatle is expected to testify at a hearing held by the House Oversight Committee on the Trump-assassination attempt, the first of what will likely be many hearings on the subject.
Ahead of the hearing, lawmakers have requested a trove of documents from the Secret Service, and instructed the agency to preserve all relevant records. The Secret Service was expected to brief lawmakers Tuesday on the incident, but plans fell through once DHS took over communications, an Oversight Committee spokeswoman told NR.
“After the Secret Service agreed to brief members of the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security took over communications with the Committee and has since refused to confirm a briefing time,” she said.
“While the Secret Service confirmed Director Cheatle is expected to appear for the Committee’s hearing on July 22, to head off any attempt by DHS to backtrack on her appearance, the Chairman will issue a subpoena for her to attend.”
Trump was wounded when a bullet grazed his right ear during the shooting, coming inches away from a potentially fatal blow. Last night, Trump appeared at the Republican convention with a large bandage covering his ear to rousing applause from the crowd.
Former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, died protecting his family from bullets at the rally, and two others were wounded. Law enforcement killed Crooks at the scene and later found explosives in his car parked nearby.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe confirmed Monday that a police officer did climb up to the roof and briefly encounter the shooter before he fired into the crowd. The officer never got up to the roof because the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, pointed his rifle at the officer, causing him to retreat.
The FBI is leading the law enforcement investigation into the intelligence failures leading up to Crooks’s rampage.