Breitbart News spoke with sources who criticized the Secret Service’s supplemental approach to security details in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Sources say former presidents’ security teams are not as rigorous as those of sitting presidents, so when former presidents travel or hold public events, such as a rally or trip like Trump’s on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service assigns “back-up” security personnel to fill in any gaps in the existing security system.
One source explained that this means the Secret Service relies on other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, local police, local advanced units, and advanced units personnel for security. While the DHS agents used by the Secret Service may be competent at the jobs they are trained for, security detail work is not what they are trained for, the source noted.
We spoke with one of our sources about the police officers who reportedly climbed onto the roof where would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was waiting, but took no direct action against him. (AP) report, “A local police officer climbed onto the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed a rifle at the officers. The officers climbed down the ladder and retreated, at which point Crooks quickly fired shots at Trump.”
The source noted that the fact that the roof appeared to have not been cleaned or monitored and that officers subsequently climbed a ladder to check it but then came down showed inherent weaknesses in the “supplementary” safeguards.
The Secret Service released a statement following the assassination attempt. assured the public “We have provided additional protective resources, technology and capabilities as part of the increased pace of campaign travel” for President Trump’s Butler rally, he said.
of Washington Examiner I got it. Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and New York Police Department officer, told Fox News in response to the Secret Service’s statement: “Is this the best technology we have? Really? A sniper 150 yards away from a presidential candidate shooting off part of his ear?”
Breitbart also reported, “In another shocking report from local news station WPXI Channel 11 News, police found Crooks on the roof about 30 minutes before he opened fire on Trump.”
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AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the author and curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the Global Marketing Director for Lone Star Hunts. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and earned his PhD in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: FollowYou can subscribe to Downrange at breitbart.com/downrange . To contact me directly, please email awrhawkins@breitbart.com
