How the Secret Service may have failed to stop the Trump shooter opening fire from just 130 yards away

How on earth is it possible that a gunman acting suspiciously would climb onto the roof of a building 400 feet from where the former President of the United States was speaking and fire at least eight shots before being shot?

That is just one of the damning and terrifying questions that remain unanswered in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, which has been described as a massive security failure.

Scary new video from TMZ captured the moment Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, lay down on the roof of a nearby building, in full view of shocked Trump supporters, and shot toward the stage.

Crooks killed former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, who was in the stands and died a hero protecting his family, and then punched Trump in the ear.

He was spotted and then monitored by police at the Trump rally location because they sensed something was wrong, according to reports, but then lost sight of him before the carnage unfolded.

Witnesses said they alerted police to a man climbing onto a building with an AR-style rifle, but he was still able to open fire.

Why were the warnings ignored? Why did the Secret Service fail to fully protect a former president and presidential candidate just four months before the election?

There are also questions as to why the area has not been fully mapped.

The Secret Service’s primary responsibility is to protect current and former presidents. They have been accused of failing miserably in this task.

It may be the biggest security lapse since President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in a Washington hotel in 1981.

Now they face a flood of questions about how the first assassination attempt in 43 years could have happened.

Politicians, law enforcement officials and critics are demanding answers as to how Crooks was able to get so close to a gathering that was so heavily secured.

Leading Republicans and Democrats have demanded an urgent investigation.

There are indications that routine checks would have eliminated all potential threats.

In a scathing statement Saturday night, FBI agent Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that Crooks managed to fire so many shots.

There have also been allegations that Trump’s team asked for more protection for the campaign, but that request was denied.

The Secret Service has since denied the claims, but remains under intense scrutiny for what has been called an “absolute failure.”

And Rep. Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, was the first lawmaker to say that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle “has to go.”

Addressing Americans from the White House on Sunday, President Joe Biden promised an “independent investigation” into the events at the meeting.

‘I am leading an independent investigation into national security [at] “We will also share the results of the independent investigation with the American people,” Biden said.

Former Secret Service agent Joseph LaSorsa said there would be an “intense review” and “massive realignment” within the agency. “This cannot happen,” he said.

He told DailyMail.com that it was very fortunate that Trump turned his head at the last moment so the bullet only hit his ear.

He said protections for former presidents should be improved and that Trump will now have nearly the same protections as President Joe Biden.

But there are questions about why a man who was attacked by so many people did not have enough officers around him.

He also explained why officers from the agency under fire may not have been able to see the shooter.

“Remember they’re monitoring 360 degrees and you’re monitoring seconds. They might monitor that it was 240 degrees in that case.

“They looked at multiple places and it only took a few seconds for that person to be there. And luckily he was 20 years old and not a very good shot.

‘Luckily for all of us as a country he was only 20.’

He added: ‘If he hadn’t been knocked out, he could have shot again.

“The fact that there was an anti-sniper team that took him out is very coincidental and very fortunate for the country, because this could have been a thousand times worse.”

Steve Nottingham, a former SWAT commander in Long Beach, California, told NBC News the shooting was a “fundamental security failure.”

Jim Cavanaugh, a retired special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), was stunned that the shooter got so close.

Greg Smith, owner of Brenckle’s Farms & Greenhouses, told DailyMail.com he saw the would-be killer climb onto a building and was baffled by the officers’ lack of action.

“I thought to myself, ‘Why is Trump still on this stage speaking? Why is he still standing there talking?'” he told DailyMail.com.

After the gunman opened fire, he saw the Secret Service “blow his head off,” the man said in video captured by the BBC.

“I saw the Secret Service blow his head off,” he said, before running to get his wife and three children to safety.

“At this point, the more I think about it, it feels to me like a major security breach,” he told DailyMail.com.

‘This isn’t a big place, there aren’t many buildings around, why isn’t everything covered?’

He said he saw a man crawling on the roof of a building.

“I saw a man crawling on the roof of that building,” he continued, according to DailyMail.com. “I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right.’

He said the man did not look like a Secret Service man at all. He was dressed in brown and gray clothing and was not in uniform.

Police officers were spotted around the building, apparently looking for someone.

“I point to the roof and say, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a gun.’”

Officers then climbed onto the roof where the shooter was located. Social media footage showed a lifeless man.

The witness, a Trump supporter, told the BBC how he saw the gunman preparing to kill the former president.

When asked why there was no one in the water tower overlooking the entire area, he replied, “I don’t like it man, I don’t like what’s happening, I don’t like the feeling, I really don’t.”

Other participants in the protest also saw him sitting on the roof for three or four minutes without police taking action, he said.

He said, ‘We saw a guy, you know, an army bear, crawling across the roof of the building, about 50 feet away from us.

“We were standing there pointing at the man crawling across the roof. He had a gun, we could clearly see he had a gun.”

The Secret Service has denied claims that former President Donald Trump did not receive extra protection before the assassination attempt, as questions have been raised about the lack of security.

Secret Service spokesman Andrew Guglielmi responded to “false” allegations from Republicans and members of the former president’s inner circle that requests for more security were being rejected.

“There is a false claim that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security measures and that this request was denied,” Guglielmi wrote on X Sunday morning, responding to Trump supporters and online claims.

“This is absolutely false. In fact, we have added protective equipment, technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel pace.”

House Republicans plan to hold a July 22 hearing against Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle in what is expected to be a heated one. Lawmakers are demanding answers.

“I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will be issuing a formal invitation shortly,” said House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky.

The suspected gunman came within inches of the former president, who was wounded in the ear and led away by Secret Service agents from the scene of his speech in Pennsylvania.