ETA - See MassGuys cropped photo.
Here’s the ladder stuff:You keep mentioning a ladder, where is that information coming from?
Here's what the witness who first saw Crooks said, "we saw a guy crawling, army, bear crawling up the roof of the building". Hear his account for yourself Trump rally: Witness says he saw gunman minutes before shots were fired
There are pipes that run to the top of the roof, is that how he got to the roof? The siding is channeled, but smooth - no way he's "bear crawling" up that.
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I think that ladder was already there. It may even be affixed to the building.
The ladder is interesting to me. If his vehicle is one of the ones seen nearby the building in the ladder pic, how did he get the ladder there? Taller aluminum ladders can shorten, but not enough to not be placed on a rack or truck bed.
I hope counseling is made available to all attendees of events involving public shootings.
www.nbcnews.com
Yeah, the ladder looks graduated to me, like top steps are narrower than lower steps, like a folding stepladder, compared to extension ladders that are the same width top to bottom. Maybe that is fixed to the exterior. If so, how convenient for him. If not, how did he get it there, as you said, even a day or so earlier?
Yeah the news reporter said they had no phone signal aswell!
Stupid question (and not my first! lol)... We've been told local LE was assisting at the event, and we know SS has a way to communicate between each other. That was very evident in the moments after DT was shot. My question is... does local LE that were at the event have a way to contact SS to say "Snipper on the roof!"?Here’s the ladder stuff:
Several rallygoers reported to local officers that Crooks was acting suspiciously and pacing near the magnetometers, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Officers were then told Crooks was climbing a ladder, the official said. Officers searched for him but were unable to find him before he made it to the roof, the official added.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the AP that a local officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who saw the officer and turned toward him just before the officer dropped down to safety. Slupe said the officer couldn’t have wielded his own gun under the circumstances. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump, and that’s when Secret Service snipers shot him, according to two officials who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Authorities hunt for clues, but motive of man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump remains elusive
Investigators are hunting for any clues about what may have drove Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
www.nbcnews.com
I was a national delegate in 2016 and can tell you that is entirely true. We went through security with Secret Service on the way into the Convention area each day (after having had background checks done long before we ever showed up) and they wouldn't even let you take any locally-purchased souvenirs in if they were big and heavy enough that they could be thrown and cause damage (I had to surrender a couple mugs from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as I'd purchased them without thinking of the security aspects.) The SS agents were very gracious about it - offered to hold the items and give them back on the way out, but they were not taking any chances, EVEN with people they had thoroughly checked out. And the perimeter where this security was located was some distance from the Convention Center itself.
www.nbcnews.com
I'm confused about this too. Did the building have a metal ladder that many do or did he bring one?
Not a stupid question at all! I would sure hope they’d have the ability to communicate stat.
Great question, and logic says yes, but we just don’t know.
Oh the IRONY of everything stated in this article. No chit sherlock!!Rooftop where gunman shot at Trump was identified as a security vulnerability before rally: sources
Two sources told NBC News that the Secret Service flagged a building near the rally site as a security concern. Investigators will be scrutinizing how a gunman was allowed to scale it.
-The rooftop where a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News.
The building, owned by a glass research company, is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service was aware of the risks associated with it, the sources said.
“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” said one of the sources, a former senior Secret Service agent who was familiar with the planning.
-The Secret Service worked with local law enforcement to maintain event security, including sniper teams poised on rooftops to identify and eliminate threats, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. But no officers were posted on the building used by the would-be assassin, outside the event’s security perimeter but only about 148 yards from the stage — within range of a semiautomatic rifle like the one the gunman was carrying.
-Although it’s common to task local law enforcement agencies with patrolling outside an event’s security perimeter, Cangelosi said, the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all vulnerabilities are covered rests with the Secret Service.
If officials had placed an officer on the building where the gunman fired from, Cangelosi said, chances are he “wouldn’t even attempt what he attempted.”
“You don’t surrender the discretion of what’s supposed to be done to the local police,” he said. “In other words, you guys have the outer perimeter, but you would want to say, ‘We need an officer on that roof.’ Not ‘that’s your responsibility; do what you see fit.’”
It was an AR-15. Folks saw the shooter climbing up the side of the building,they told police & security. Apparently it fell on deaf ears. No pun intended. This isn't how America is. This isn't what we stand for.
