Whistleblowers Claim Local Pennsylvania Police Abandoned Rooftop Because It Was TOO HOT: Congressman

Whistleblowers have contacted the office of United States Senator Josh Hawley with claims that law enforcement personnel abandoned their post at the Pennsylvania rooftop from where Donald Trump was shot on July 13.

The whistleblowers alleged that law enforcement left the roof unguarded and went inside the building because it was too hot outside, Knewz.com has learned.

Senator Hawley wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security , Alejandro Mayorkas, informing him of the claims made by the anonymous whistleblowers.

On July 13, Trump was shot by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks in a failed assassination bid while he was speaking to a crowd of supporters at a Republican rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

It was reported that Crooks took aim at the Republican Presidential candidate from the roof of the American Glass Research building located around 400 feet away from the podium where Trump was standing at the time of the incident.

Witnesses have claimed that they saw the 20-year-old shooter making his way up the slope of the building's roof, from where he fired a total of eight shots with lethal intent using his father's AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle .

In the letter Senator Hawley wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, he cited information relayed to him by a whistleblower "with direct knowledge of Secret Service planning for the event" who claimed that law enforcement personnel were specifically asked to guard the roof of the American Glass Research building.

However, the Missouri Senator's source alleged that the assigned individual left their post due to "the hot weather."

"The whistleblower further alleges that concerns over the heat prompted law enforcement to forego patrolling [American Glass Research] Building 6 and instead to station security personnel inside the building," the letter mentioned.

He further mentioned in the letter that this information contradicts the public statements made by the U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle "about the 'safety' of the sloped roof of American Glass Research Building 6."

The public statement Senator Hawley is referring to appears to be the comments made by Director Cheatle during an interview on July 16, where she stated that the reason the Secret Service did not position personnel on the sloped roof of the building was due to safety concerns.

"That building in particular has a sloped roof, at its highest point... And so, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside," Director Cheatle was quoted as saying.

In addition to relaying the claims made by the whistleblowers, Senator Hawley presented a few demands of his own to the Homeland Security Secretary.

The Senator "immediately" requested a copy of the Homeland Security Investigations' report on the Trump assassination attempt, as well as the answers to three questions—demanding that they be answered before July 26:

"If the whistleblower's allegations are accurate, when did the individual abandon the post?"

"Which law enforcement units were assigned to the roof? Please provide all security plans indicating which units were assigned to the roof and the building."

And lastly, he demanded to know if "any law enforcement personnel fail to report to their assigned stations that day."

The Senator published a copy of the letter to Secretary Mayorkas on X , formerly known as Twitter.

It is worth noting that Security Service Director Cheatle turned in her resignation from the post on July 23, amidst intense pressure from lawmakers in light of the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

"In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director," Cheatle was quoted as saying by The Washington Post . "This incident does not define us... I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission."

Both President Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have released official statements regarding her resignation, thanking her for her service.

"Jill [Biden] and I are grateful to Director Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service. She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service," President Biden wrote in a statement released by the White House.

"The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon," the President added.