By Michael Biesecker and Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press
The US secret service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR rifle was in a position to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally On Saturday, Pennsylvania saw a monumental failure of the agency in carrying out one among its core missions.
The gunman who was killed by Secret Service agents fired several shots on the stage from an “elevated position outside the rally site,” the agency said.
An Associated Press evaluation of greater than a dozen videos and photos of Trump's rally, in addition to satellite images of the positioning, shows the gunman got here astonishingly near the stage where the previous president was speaking. A video posted on social media and geolocated by AP shows the body of a person in gray camouflage clothing lying motionless on the roof of a factory north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump's rally was held.
The roof was lower than 150 meters from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a great marksman could easily hit a human-sized goal. For reference, 150 meters is the gap from which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, as carried by the shooter on the Trump rally, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.
The FBI identified the shooter early Sunday as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service was not present at a late-night press conference where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials updated reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that the gunman was in a position to fire on the stage before he was killed.
Members of the Secret Service sniper and counter-assault teams were on the rally, in response to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to debate details of the investigation.
The heavily armed Counter Assault Team, whose Secret Service code name is “Hawkeye,” is accountable for eliminating threats in order that other agents can shield and take away the person they’re protecting. The Counter Sniper Team, known by the code name “Hercules,” uses long-range binoculars and is supplied with sniper rifles to have interaction threats from long distances.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to research the shooting. The safety of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one among the department's “most important priorities,” he said.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for its swift action today,” Mayorkas said. “We are in communication with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaign teams and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety.”
Calls for an investigation got here from all sides.
James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said he has contacted the service for a briefing and asked Director Kimberly Cheatle to attend a hearing. Comer said his committee will send out a proper invitation soon.
“Political violence in any form is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a press release.
New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, a US representative, called for an investigation into the “security deficiencies” on the rally.
“The federal government must continually learn from security failures to avoid recurrence, especially when those failures have national implications,” Torres said.
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers wrote on X that he and his staff had been working on Republican National Convention is scheduled to start in Milwaukee on Monday. “We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind – that is not consistent with our identity as Americans,” Evers said.
The FBI said it is going to lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and native and state law enforcement.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would “bring all available resources to the investigation.”
“My thoughts are with the former president, those injured and the family of the bystander killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said in a press release. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy.”
Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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