A lone shooter shot at Donald Trump at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania (File)
New Delhi:
The US Secret Service is under fire over its most stunning failure in decades following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and several witnesses claiming that they had flagged the shooter to the officials before he took the shot are only adding to the crisis.
The questions facing the authorities are how a 20-year-old lone shooter was able to spot an exposed rooftop barely a football field away from the former president, assume the position, and take the shots, and why did officials not act despite several attendees pointing out the “shooter” on the roof.
One “citizen journalist” Grant Godwin posted a video filmed by supporters at the Trump rally that showed the alleged shooter getting in position.
“Officer! Officer!” a person is heard calling out to the security officials posted nearby and another saying, “Yeah, someone is on the roof”, and pointing to the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The “shooter” is seen climbing the roof of a shed, approximately just 400 ft, or less than 150 metres, from the stage where Trump was. He tries to stay down, crawling his way forward after getting on the roof.
“Someone’s on top of the roof… Right there… You see him? He’s laying down… Yeah, he is laying down,” a person is heard saying.
“Yeah, look, there he is…” said another.
Sharing the video on Instagram, Godwin wrote: “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! The amount of time the Secret Service and law enforcement had to neutralise this threat is ridiculous. I cannot wrap my head around this. You’re telling me rally attendees noticed this guy way ahead of time, informed law enforcement, and still they didn’t take this guy out before a shot was taken? Extremely concerning.”
Reacting to the video, a user wrote: “I’ve seen better security at Foot Locker.”
“So some random 20-year-old kid just is lucky enough to access the one spot to be able to have a clear shot of Trump? The only place they needed to secure? It makes no sense,” said another.
“Walmart security could’ve taken that dude out,” noted a third.