Officials in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, disputed several parts of Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr.’s testimony before a Senate committee on Tuesday. Director Rowe was quick to shift the blame to local police for allowing a man who plotted to assassinate former President Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate appeared at a joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, the first time Secret Service officials have appeared before Congress since former Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned earlier this month.
Rowe testified that investigators did not notice a man on the roof of the AGR building where the rally was being held until it was too late, and he also acknowledged that the Secret Service was ultimately responsible for security failures at the former president’s rally.
But when asked why Trump was allowed onto the stage at 6:02pm despite knowing that security had spotted suspicious people on their rangefinders, Rowe said he had not received any reports of suspicious or malicious people with weapons.
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Drone footage shows councillors climbing to the roof of the AGR building where Thomas Crookes was fired on 13 July. (Fox News Digital)
Rowe also used evidence from the scene and pointed to the roof where suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks fired his shots, adding, “I don’t and I don’t understand why there wasn’t better reporting or at least someone looking at that roof line when it was positioned there.”
The statement appeared to blame local snipers stationed inside the AGR building during the rally.
Beaver County Emergency Services Unit Commander Patrick Young and Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible spoke to Fox News on Thursday to dispute the charges against local officers.
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On July 22, 2024, near the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers toured the site of the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a campaign rally that left one person dead and two injured. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Young said there were two shooters inside the AGR building, one with Butler County Emergency Services and the other with Beaver County Emergency Services.
Young added that at some point that night, one of the shooters spotted Crooks and took a photo of him “just because he seemed suspicious,” but there was no indication he was a threat.
Young also said his unit received instructions on where to go from the Butler County ESU, which he presumes had Secret Service approval.
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Former President Trump responded after multiple gunshots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Agricultural Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“They were deployed by Butler County ESU, which I believe was approved by the Secret Service. Their duties on the day were clearly defined and left no room for ambiguity,” Young said. “Their areas of responsibility included the entry control points, the areas before and after the Magneton monitors, and the area in front of the stage, all within the interior secure perimeter defined by Secret Service. That was where they were deployed and that was their priority.”
Young said one of his subordinates saw Crooks with a rangefinder at about 5:34 p.m. that day, contacted a “sniper text group” and took a photo, adding that the Secret Service had previously discussed not communicating by text, but that he couldn’t think of another way to share the photo over radio.
The Beaver County sniper eventually saw Crooks pick up his backpack and disappear behind the edge of the building. The sniper then went to the first floor to search for Crooks, contacted the patrol and told them the suspect was in the back before returning to his post. At the same time, the Butler County sniper remained by the window, Young said.
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Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Rowe Jr. testified Tuesday at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees in the Senator Dirksen’s Office Building on Capitol Hill. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Young explained that shortly after returning, shots were fired and Butler’s sniper heard the gunfire.
However, from the window where the two snipers were watching, they could not get a clear view of the roof where Crooks was located unless they leaned out.
Bible defended the snipers, saying their job was to stay outside the perimeter and watch the crowd, not outside the covered area.
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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) questioned Acting Director of the U.S. Secret Service Ronald Roe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate on Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee investigating the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“Our guys were in covert sniper positions. They were positioned a few feet away from the window,” the district attorney said, “so to see onto that roof, they would have had to go outside and reveal their location.”
Bible added that if the Secret Service had instructed local authorities to place snipers on rooftops, they “absolutely would have” done so.
Bible said the Beaver County law enforcement team assisting the department was not pleased with the federal response, but he and Young said they couldn’t be more proud of their team.
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“It’s not that they’re being recognized for the great job they did that day,” Bible said, “but they certainly don’t want to take any unnecessary flak. So I do feel like they’re a little upset about the way some of the information was disseminated, but certainly they have a job to do and if asked to do it again, I’m sure they would.”
Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.
