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  • Whistleblower allegedly claims officers diverted from security plan at Trump Butler rally due to heat

    Whistleblower allegedly claims officers diverted from security plan at Trump Butler rally due to heat

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    A whistleblower is allegedly making claims about security failures in the hours leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.Video above: Pennsylvania lawmaker wants committee to investigate Trump assassination attemptSen. Josh Hawley from Missouri sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Secretary explaining the whistleblower’s claims. The whistleblower allegedly claimed there was supposed to be at least one security officer posted on the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired rounds at the former president, and the security officer assigned to the roof abandoned their post because of the heat. According to the whistleblower’s claims, the heat was why security personnel were stationed inside the building instead. The letter didn’t name any specific security or law enforcement agencies. Sister station WTAE reached out to Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe with questions regarding the whistleblower’s claims.”That building and grounds were not the sheriff’s office’s responsibility, and I do not have first-hand knowledge of who was supposed to be where,” Slupe said.It was a Butler Township officer who responded to that building in search of Crooks and fell from the roof after spotting him with a gun. Butler Township officers were specifically assigned to traffic detail that day, according to Butler Township Manager, Tom Knights.Knights said Butler Township Police have not reported anything in line with the whistleblower’s claims. He said this is the first he’s heard that anyone was allegedly stationed on the building’s roof.Regarding the second claim, Knights said he was made aware there were personnel inside the building, but he doesn’t know which agency and if they were security or police, but he said it was not Butler Township.Knights toured the site of the Butler rally alongside members of Congress on Monday, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.“The American people have the right to know, and we have the responsibility to get the answers for them. This is where I have grown up. This is where I’ve lived my whole life. For Homeland Security to come now and take a look at what happened and reassure the American people that this is never going to happen again, I appreciate it,” Kelly said.

    A whistleblower is allegedly making claims about security failures in the hours leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

    Video above: Pennsylvania lawmaker wants committee to investigate Trump assassination attempt

    Sen. Josh Hawley from Missouri sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Secretary explaining the whistleblower’s claims. The whistleblower allegedly claimed there was supposed to be at least one security officer posted on the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired rounds at the former president, and the security officer assigned to the roof abandoned their post because of the heat.

    According to the whistleblower’s claims, the heat was why security personnel were stationed inside the building instead. The letter didn’t name any specific security or law enforcement agencies.

    Sister station WTAE reached out to Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe with questions regarding the whistleblower’s claims.

    “That building and grounds were not the sheriff’s office’s responsibility, and I do not have first-hand knowledge of who was supposed to be where,” Slupe said.

    It was a Butler Township officer who responded to that building in search of Crooks and fell from the roof after spotting him with a gun. Butler Township officers were specifically assigned to traffic detail that day, according to Butler Township Manager, Tom Knights.

    Knights said Butler Township Police have not reported anything in line with the whistleblower’s claims. He said this is the first he’s heard that anyone was allegedly stationed on the building’s roof.

    Regarding the second claim, Knights said he was made aware there were personnel inside the building, but he doesn’t know which agency and if they were security or police, but he said it was not Butler Township.

    Knights toured the site of the Butler rally alongside members of Congress on Monday, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

    “The American people have the right to know, and we have the responsibility to get the answers for them. This is where I have grown up. This is where I’ve lived my whole life. For Homeland Security to come now and take a look at what happened and reassure the American people that this is never going to happen again, I appreciate it,” Kelly said.

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  • Whistleblower allegedly claims officers diverted from security plan at Trump Butler rally due to heat

    Whistleblower allegedly claims officers diverted from security plan at Trump Butler rally due to heat

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    A whistleblower is allegedly making claims about security failures in the hours leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.Video above: Pennsylvania lawmaker wants committee to investigate Trump assassination attemptSen. Josh Hawley from Missouri sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Secretary explaining the whistleblower’s claims. The whistleblower allegedly claimed there was supposed to be at least one security officer posted on the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired rounds at the former president, and the security officer assigned to the roof abandoned their post because of the heat. According to the whistleblower’s claims, the heat was why security personnel were stationed inside the building instead. The letter didn’t name any specific security or law enforcement agencies. Sister station WTAE reached out to Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe with questions regarding the whistleblower’s claims.”That building and grounds were not the sheriff’s office’s responsibility, and I do not have first-hand knowledge of who was supposed to be where,” Slupe said.It was a Butler Township officer who responded to that building in search of Crooks and fell from the roof after spotting him with a gun. Butler Township officers were specifically assigned to traffic detail that day, according to Butler Township Manager, Tom Knights.Knights said Butler Township Police have not reported anything in line with the whistleblower’s claims. He said this is the first he’s heard that anyone was allegedly stationed on the building’s roof.Regarding the second claim, Knights said he was made aware there were personnel inside the building, but he doesn’t know which agency and if they were security or police, but he said it was not Butler Township.Knights toured the site of the Butler rally alongside members of Congress on Monday, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.“The American people have the right to know, and we have the responsibility to get the answers for them. This is where I have grown up. This is where I’ve lived my whole life. For Homeland Security to come now and take a look at what happened and reassure the American people that this is never going to happen again, I appreciate it,” Kelly said.

    A whistleblower is allegedly making claims about security failures in the hours leading up to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

    Video above: Pennsylvania lawmaker wants committee to investigate Trump assassination attempt

    Sen. Josh Hawley from Missouri sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Secretary explaining the whistleblower’s claims. The whistleblower allegedly claimed there was supposed to be at least one security officer posted on the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired rounds at the former president, and the security officer assigned to the roof abandoned their post because of the heat.

    According to the whistleblower’s claims, the heat was why security personnel were stationed inside the building instead. The letter didn’t name any specific security or law enforcement agencies.

    Sister station WTAE reached out to Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe with questions regarding the whistleblower’s claims.

    “That building and grounds were not the sheriff’s office’s responsibility, and I do not have first-hand knowledge of who was supposed to be where,” Slupe said.

    It was a Butler Township officer who responded to that building in search of Crooks and fell from the roof after spotting him with a gun. Butler Township officers were specifically assigned to traffic detail that day, according to Butler Township Manager, Tom Knights.

    Knights said Butler Township Police have not reported anything in line with the whistleblower’s claims. He said this is the first he’s heard that anyone was allegedly stationed on the building’s roof.

    Regarding the second claim, Knights said he was made aware there were personnel inside the building, but he doesn’t know which agency and if they were security or police, but he said it was not Butler Township.

    Knights toured the site of the Butler rally alongside members of Congress on Monday, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

    “The American people have the right to know, and we have the responsibility to get the answers for them. This is where I have grown up. This is where I’ve lived my whole life. For Homeland Security to come now and take a look at what happened and reassure the American people that this is never going to happen again, I appreciate it,” Kelly said.

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  • The Secret Service is investigating how a gunman who shot and injured Trump was able to get so close

    The Secret Service is investigating how a gunman who shot and injured Trump was able to get so close

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    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, a monumental failure of one of the agency’s core duties.

    The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the agency said.

    An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump’s rally was held.

    SEE ALSO | Latest on Trump assassination attempt: Live updates

    The roof was less than 150 meters (yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-style rifle, like that of the gunman at the Trump rally, is the semiautomatic civilian version of the military M16.

    The FBI on Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

    The Secret Service did not have a speaker at a late-night news conference where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that the gunman was able to fire at the stage before he was killed.

    Members of the Secret Service’s counter-sniper team and counterassault team were at the rally, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

    The heavily armed counterassault team, whose Secret Service code name is “Hawkeye,” is responsible for eliminating threats so that other agents can shield and take away the person they are protecting. The counter-sniper team, known by the code name “Hercules,” uses long-range binoculars and is equipped with sniper rifles to deal with long-range threats.

    READ MORE | Man killed at Trump rally was former fire chief who ‘died a hero,’ Pennsylvania governor says

    U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. Maintaining the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of the department’s “most vital priorities,” he said.

    “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 came from all sides.

    Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Mayorkas on Sunday raising questions about the shooting and demanding information about the former president’s Secret Service protection.

    “The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Green wrote in the letter.

    Green also noted reports that the Secret Service had rebuffed requests from the Trump campaign for additional security. A spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, said on X Sunday that those allegations were “absolutely false” and that they had added resources and technology as the campaign’s travel increased.

    SEE ALSO | Suspect in Trump assassination attempt had registered as Republican but motive unknown

    Green said he would be talking with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Sunday.

    James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is the House Oversight Committee chairman, said he contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and called on Cheatle to appear for a hearing. Comer said his committee will send a formal invitation soon.

    “Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a statement.

    U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called for investigating “security failures” at the rally.

    “The federal government must constantly learn from security failures in order to avoid repeating them, especially when those failures have implications for the nation,” Torres said.

    Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted on X that he and his staff are in contact with security planning coordinators ahead of the Republican National Convention set to begin Monday in Milwaukee. “We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind – that is not who we are as Americans,” Evers said.

    The FBI said it will lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.

    Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “will bring every available resource to bear to this investigation.”

    “My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said in a statement. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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