The attempt to assassinate former President Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday raised questions about security protocols and how a gunman could open fire so close to the presumptive GOP nominee.
For several minutes, witnesses pointed toward a nondescript roof just outside the venue where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pa. Multiple people shouted at law enforcement that a man with a rifle was taking aim at Trump.
In videos shared on social media, attendees pleaded and shouted, "He's got a gun." The shots rang out from the would-be assassin, and in return, the Secret Service sharpshooters opened fire.
The former president clapped his hand to the side of his face and ducked, with Secret Service agents quickly surrounding him and whisking him away as blood dripped near his right ear.
The shooting, which left one spectator dead and injured Trump and two others, stunned operatives of both political parties who have seen firsthand the level of precision, care and detail the Secret Service takes in safeguarding its charges. American presidents and former presidents are among the most protected politicians in the world, with multiple layers of security — some visible to the public and others covert.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by Homeland Security, the FBI, Secret Service and the attorney general's office Sunday about the assassination attempt and the shooter — identified by authorities as Thomas Matthew Crooks , 20, from Bethel Park, Pa. — but a motive has not been revealed.
Biden said he has ordered a "thorough and swift investigation" of the shooting.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence, or any violence," Biden said during a news conference. "For that matter, an assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation."
Biden said he has been consistent in his direction for the Secret Service to provide Trump with "every resource capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety."
The president also directed the Secret Service to review its security measures for the Republican National Convention, and said he's ordered an independent review of security at the Pennsylvania rally, which will be shared publicly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) joined a growing chorus of politicians asking how the shooting could have happened.
On the "Today" show, Johnson said that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas could not answer whether drones were being used to spot potential security threats.
"How could an individual be at that elevation that was seen by apparently bystanders on the ground? How could that not be noticed by Secret Service?" Johnson said Sunday morning. "Lots more questions than answers this morning."
Democrat Bill Burton saw the intricate level of protection while accompanying then-Sen. Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign and then as a member of his White House administration.
“In the political world, people often ignore the humanity on the other side, but ultimately, former President Trump came within an inch of losing his life today,” Burton said after watching the story unfold live on television monitors during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. “And regardless of what these next months and years hold, I don’t think any of us want to live in a country where that is a reality for our leaders.”
At campaign rallies and official White House events, the level of security for spectators is greater than at an airport checkpoint. Items as innocuous as umbrellas are often confiscated. For reporters and others in close proximity to the president or a prominent candidate, the security is even more in-depth, with background checks and trained dogs smelling bags and equipment.
In addition to such publicly visible efforts, agents are often perched on rooftops with long guns when a protectee appears in public. Motorcades are guarded by federal, state and local law enforcement. Buildings and event sites are screened and safeguarded in advance, and intelligence about potential threats is vetted.
But attendees at Saturday's rally say not all structures around the venue were covered by the Secret Service.
Greg Smith told the BBC that he had seen the shooter crawling on a nearby rooftop before shots rang out. Smith said he and others tried to alert police or the Secret Service to his presence.
"We're pointing at the guy," Smith told the BBC . "He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle."
Smith suspects that law enforcement could not see the man because of the slope of the roof where he was positioned. Other eyewitness photos shared on social media show the suspect lying on his stomach with a rifle. A video shared on the social media platform X showed a chaotic scene of people shouting, "He's got a gun!"
Trump continued to speak onstage as the scene unfolded, according to witnesses.
Smith said, "I'm thinking to myself, 'Why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him off the stage?' "
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi on Sunday addressed criticism over a lapse in security in a statement posted to X . Guglielmi said it was not true that Trump's camp had "requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed."
"In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo," Guglielmi said.
A law enforcement source said the rooftop was beyond the security net set up by the Secret Service, adding that is now part of the investigation.
The range from which the weapon was fired and the clothing worn by the gunman led to early speculation that the shooter had military experience. However, all the branches of the military searched their records Sunday and said they had no records of Crooks serving.
“We’ve confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Sunday.
Crooks fired from about 430 feet from the stage where Trump was speaking. Given some training and practice, it would not be a difficult shot to make with an AR-style rifle — which was what Crooks used — said retired Los Angeles Police Department special weapons team officer and sniper Steve Gordon.
"That type of rifle is standard issue to the police/military, and that is not a difficult shot to make with that weapon system,” Gordon said.
Even without seeing the Pennsylvania venue, Gordon said that "it's nearly impossible, if not completely impossible, to cover every window, rooftop, tree, bush and person."
"Had they spotted him seconds earlier, they could have shot him immediately based on the circumstances," he said. "But based on what I've seen so far, I believe the counter-sniper team did a tremendous job.”
He questioned whether the Secret Service had all the resources needed for the security detail.
Guglielmi told the Washington Post that the agency relied on local police at the rally. Those officers performed vital tasks usually carried out by specialized agents, including the heavily armed counter-assault team who provided cover to Trump as he was escorted out of the venue and counter-sniper teams who spotted and killed the shooter.
The assassination attempt took place on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which starts Monday, with Trump expected to accept his party's nomination on Thursday.
Security during such events is extraordinarily tight and is certain to grow stricter after what occurred Saturday.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said he and his staff are communicating with the agencies coordinating security for the event.
"We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind — that is not who we are as Americans," Evers said on X.
The last publicly known assassination attempt of a president or former president occurred in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured as he left a hotel in Washington.
Butler County Dist. Atty. Richard A. Goldinger told CNN on Saturday that the gunman was outside the grounds where Trump was speaking.
“Quite frankly, I don’t know how he would have gotten to the location where he was,” Goldinger said. “And I think that’s something that we’re gonna have to figure out how he got there."
Law enforcement consultant Roy Taylor, who has decades of experience coordinating security details for political events, said securing elevated positions around a venue is key to ensuring a protectee's safety.
Taylor, who was not involved in Trump's security detail in Pennsylvania, said the Secret Service acted quickly once they were alerted to Crooks' position. But he questions why the rooftop was left open in the first place.
"Everybody needs to be taken out of the building, or officers need to be put into the building," he said. "We need to make sure it's secured because obviously it's easier to fire down on somebody than it is for people to fire up, because that gives you a platform of superiority."
It's unclear what the situation was like for the security detail on the ground, Taylor said, adding they may have been inundated with information from rally attendees, radio chatter and Trump's nearby speech.
As a former president, Trump already has a Secret Service detail, but that will probably increase when he accepts the nomination to be the Republican candidate, Taylor said.
Taylor was involved in coordinating the security detail for the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. For a year leading up to the convention, security met regularly to coordinate all aspects of the event.
But a security detail on the campaign trail does not have that luxury, he said, noting they are working on a quicker timeline and coordinating with local law enforcement.
"It would be difficult for them to do a full security assessment and cover every single base with the resources they're given," Taylor said.
Multiple politicians have called for scrutiny of the Secret Service in the wake of the shooting. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, invited Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing on July 22.
"The tremendous bravery of the individual United States Secret Service agents who protected President Trump, eliminated the gunman, and possibly averted more loss of life cannot be overstated enough," Comer said in his invitation letter. In a post to X , Comer wrote, "Americans demand answers about the assassination attempt of President Trump."
An advisor to 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the danger grows exponentially at outdoor events, which he described as “the most difficult.”
“So many ways to get a weapon in. Could have been tossed over a fence. Dug into the ground and placed earlier. Who knows?” said the advisor, asking not to be identified to speak candidly about the situation.
Burton said that while the Secret Service offers “the best protection in the world … any security official would tell you that it is nearly impossible to stop a committed lone wolf who is willing to die for his cause.”
Obama received Secret Service protection earlier than any presidential candidate in history because of the level of threats against him.
“I was absolutely shocked and immediately saddened,” Burton said of Saturday's violence.
The Secret Service was charged with protecting presidents in 1902 after the assassination of President McKinley the previous year. Its duties — safeguarding the nation’s leaders and their families — have grown over the years, most significantly after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
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