Secret Service director gives bizarre reason why an agent wasn’t on the roof where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump as she rejects calls to resign
- Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle Finally Gave Interview
- “That building in particular has a sloping roof at the highest point,” she said
Kimberly Cheatle, the embattled head of the Secret Service, has revealed the fateful reason her agency failed to place an agent on the roof of the building used by a gunman to attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.
Cheatle, who is already facing calls to resign over what some lawmakers are calling a massive security lapse, said Secret Service officials planning security for Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, considered the warehouse about 450 feet (137 meters) from where Trump spoke a risky position to station an agent.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at the highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be taken into consideration, we wouldn’t want to put someone on a sloped roof,” she told ABC News in an interview Tuesday.
‘And so it was decided to secure the building from the inside.’
What happened instead was a security nightmare: Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to scale the building and secure his own position, while police struggled to find him, even amid urgent warnings from Trump supporters. But there wasn’t enough time to act on the tips, she explained.
“The shooter was actually identified as a potential suspect,” Cheatle said. “Unfortunately, given the rapid pace of events, by the time the individual was eventually located, he was already on the roof and was able to fire at the former president.”
Secret Service official Kimberly Cheatle has come forward in her first interview since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, and she says a sloped roof is the reason the building is secured from the inside.
Cheatle told ABC News her initial reaction to the shooting was “shock.”
She also said the Secret Service was aware of the security breaches in the building where Crooks took up a sniper position to target Trump, but the decision was made not to place personnel on the roof.
She continues to resist calls to resign over the incident, even as she takes responsibility for her agency.
“The responsibility lies with me,” she said. said.
“It was unacceptable,” she told ABC. “And it can’t happen again.”
Cheatle is already facing calls to resign amid what some are calling a “massive security failure”
President Biden was asked by NBC on Monday whether he has confidence in the Secret Service.
“I feel safe with the Secret Service. But look … what we did see was the Secret Service responding by risking their lives. They were willing to lay down their lives for the president. The question is, should they have anticipated what was happening? Should they have done what they had to do to prevent this from happening? That’s the question that’s open.”
He did not immediately respond when NBC’s Lester Holt asked him whether the agency was dealing with a “massive security lapse.”