Pennsylvania State Police have denied concerns from outgoing Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the “sloping roof” used by the gunman in his near-assassination of former President Donald Trump was too dangerous for officers.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Parris made the remarks while testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. Parris oversaw state and local law enforcement working with the Secret Service during President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) began his questioning by talking about his own experience visiting the scene of a shooting earlier this week.
“The director of the Secret Service said before he resigned that he didn’t let anyone on the roof because it was sloped and there were safety concerns,” Guest began. “I was in Butler, Pennsylvania, yesterday with many members of this committee, and my colleague, Carlos Jimenez, is 70 years old… and there is video footage of him effortlessly traversing the roof, walking across the roof, even though he’s 50 years older than the shooter.”
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Pennsylvania State Police have denied concerns from outgoing Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the “sloping roof” used by the gunman in his near-assassination of former President Donald Trump was too dangerous for officers.
“So my question is, do you agree with the former Secret Service director’s assessment that the roof was too sloped and created safety concerns?” he asked.
“I don’t agree with that,” Paris replied.
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Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after testifying before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
Lawmakers questioned Paris about all aspects of security at the Butler rally, and while Paris provided more details than Cheatle did at Monday’s hearing, he too was limited by the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the incident.
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Also testifying was Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, who provided expert testimony on police leadership and security operations.
Members of Congress tour the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The bipartisan delegation visited the site of an assassination attempt on former President Trump at a campaign rally last week that left one attendee dead and two injured. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) filmed himself on Monday climbing onto the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at President Trump.
“So what really bothers me, and the reason I went up on the roof — I’m 70 years old — is the director said, ‘The roof is too steep, a Secret Service agent can’t get up on it,’ and that was the final straw for me,” he said.
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“I could run around on that roof all day,” Jiminez added.
