Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced scrutiny for not placing an agent on a sloped rooftop near President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, where a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump.
Cheatle blamed the sloped roof for the decision and indicated local law enforcement’s failure to secure the area.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” Cheatle said. “And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.”
The shooter, Thomas Crooks, had been flagged as a potential threat but evaded immediate intervention before firing shots.
“The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion,” Cheatle said. “Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded, by the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president.”
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the USSS was responsible for the inner perimeter,” she said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building, there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
“I’m not supposed to be here,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
President Trump praised his agents for swiftly protecting him and acknowledged the peril he faced during the incident, emphasizing the agents’ remarkable response.
“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said with a smile. He credited the firing agent with executing a perfect headshot on Crooks who was firing from over 400 feet away. “They took him out with one shot right between the eyes,” Trump said.
“They did a fantastic job,” he added. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
