The gunman had been using the “sloped” roof at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania event. That offered a natural blind. Law enforcement had an individual stationed there before the attempt at assassinating Trump, but they left due to “hot weather,” according to a whistleblower who was involved with Secret Service preparations.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, sent a letter to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday through X. In the letter, Hawley criticized Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s earlier assertion that the roof where the gunshots were fired from was not manned by security personnel because it was “sloped.”
Hawley wrote that, according to a whistleblower with direct knowledge of Secret Service planning, there was supposed to be a law enforcement presence on the roof that day, contrary to Director Cheatle’s public statements about the safety of American Glass Research Building 6.
According to Hawley, the American Glass Research Building 6 had a security detail stationed on its roof, but that person abandoned their post after some time so police could “forego patrolling” the facility.
An anonymous source has come forward to claim that during the rally speech, someone was supposed to be on the roof, but that person left their station because it was too hot.
The whistleblower further alleges that law enforcement abandoned patrolling Building 6 in favor of stationing security personnel inside the building due to concerns over the heat emanating from the roof.
Cheatle has said that the facility was located outside the Secret Service’s perimeter. She also mentioned that the “outer perimeter of the building” was the responsibility of local law enforcement.
Local law police allegedly noticed 20-year-old gunman Matthew Thomas Crooks about half an hour before the incident, according to people in the law enforcement community. A police officer had also climbed to the top but had to leave when the 20-year-old turned his firearm at him.
Crooks was able to fly a drone over the rally location in the hours before the event, following a predetermined flight route. It is also suggested that they may have flown the drone more than once to investigate and survey the area thoroughly.
Cheatle has stepped down from her position due to the continuing failures of the Secret Service.
