Security Breach Allows Gunman to Injure Former President Trump at Pennsylvania Rally
In a significant lapse of security, a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle managed to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Secret Service is now investigating this breach, which underscores a failure in its primary duty of protecting individuals under its care.
The shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by Secret Service personnel after firing several shots from an elevated position outside the rally venue. Analysis by the Associated Press, including more than a dozen videos and photos along with satellite imagery, revealed that the gunman got alarmingly close to the stage where Trump was speaking. A video on social media, geolocated by the AP, showed the body of a man in grey camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, the rally site.
This rooftop location was less than 150 metres from Trump, a distance within which a competent marksman could easily hit a human-sized target. For comparison, U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human silhouette at this distance to qualify with the M16 assault rifle during basic training. The AR-15, used by the shooter, is the semi-automatic civilian counterpart of the military M16.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek expressed surprise at a late-night news conference that the gunman was able to fire at the stage before being neutralised. However, no Secret Service representatives were present at the briefing. Two law enforcement officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed the presence of Secret Service counter sniper and counter assault teams at the rally. The counter assault team, codenamed “Hawkeye,” is responsible for eliminating threats to allow other agents to protect and evacuate the protected individual. The counter sniper team, known as “Hercules,” is equipped with long-range binoculars and sniper rifles to handle distant threats.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the incident. He stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of presidential candidates and their campaign events. “We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today,” Mayorkas said. “We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
Calls for an investigation have emerged from multiple sources. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has requested a briefing from the Secret Service and urged Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. “Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions, and Americans demand answers,” Comer said.
New York Democrat Ritchie Torres has also called for an investigation into the “security failures” at the rally. “The federal government must constantly learn from security failures to avoid repeating them, especially when those failures have implications for the nation,” Torres said.
In preparation for the Republican National Convention set to begin Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers posted on social media that he and his staff are in contact with security planning coordinators. “We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind — that is not who we are as Americans,” Evers said.
The FBI has announced it will lead the investigation into the shooting, collaborating with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement. Attorney General Merrick Garland has committed all available resources to the investigation. “My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy.”
