Members of the local SWAT team on duty at the Butler Trump rally told ABC News that a lack of planning and communication resulted in the failure to protect Donald Trump.
abcnews.go.com
The sniper and his fellow Beaver County SWAT officers were assigned to Trump's Butler campaign rally, and tasked with supporting the Secret Service and other law enforcement in the mission to keep the event and Secret Service protectee, safe.
Rbm.
They (local LEO's) were not running the show, so to speak.
“Could it have been avoided? Absolutely,” said Det. Pat Young, commander of the Beaver County SWAT team and Nicol’s boss. “And should it have been avoided? Yeah, absolutely.”
A Butler sniper leader who met Nicol and his partners at the AGR building told them their mission was to look out those windows and scan the area for threats, Nicol said
Over the next 13 minutes, Nicol attempted to pass his concerns up the chain of command.
The state trooper then conveyed the information to Secret Service agents also in the command post at approximately 5:44 p.m.
The secret service were notified.
They did nothing.
There was time to act.
The burden of blame is more on them than anyone else; their job is to neutralize threats.
Some good maps at the Cnn link.
All of this happened in an area that wasn't overly large for the secret service to handle.
BUTLER, Pa. — The Secret Service blamed local police for failing to secure the rooftop from which gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, insistin…
nypost.com
Pennsylvania police confirmed they assisted the Secret Service and regularly do so when high-profile government officials come to town, but that the federal agency ultimately runs the show.
Attendees reported seeing 20-year-old Thomas Crooks acting suspiciously near rally metal detectors, according to CNN, with local law enforcement being notified and broadcasting warnings over their radios to the Secret Service to be on the lookout for him.
Included is a photo of a gate at the edge of the rally.
Good work in securing that gate, secret service !
Even if they weren't the ones who used zip ties, they should have noticed it wasn't secured.
A good pair of Fiskars could cut the ties quickly.
Wire or bolt cutters would get that chain undone.
After that, a truck could easily have been driven through the fence.
Smh.
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Omo.