The circumstances surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump have sparked a flurry of inquiries, particularly concerning the lack of drone surveillance on the fateful day.
On July 13, a 20-year-old man named Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop near a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The incident resulted in one death, two serious injuries, and a minor injury to Trump himself. The assailant was subsequently neutralized by the Secret Service.
According to Newsweek, the incident has prompted multiple investigations into the crime itself and the security lapses that allowed the shooter to get alarmingly close to the former president. The Secret Service's handling of the situation has come under scrutiny, with mounting pressure on the agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, to step down. However, Cheatle has firmly stated her intention to remain in her position.
In a recent law enforcement briefing with senators, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, questioned Cheatle about the absence of drones to detect potential threats from elevated positions during the rally. Cruz recounted, "You had one senator who asked, 'Were there drones, yes or no?' And the answer from the head of the Secret Service was, 'We determined that the risk from that rooftop was mitigated by countersnipers.'"
Cruz expressed his dissatisfaction with Cheatle's response, criticizing her for not acknowledging the need for drone surveillance. He also raised concerns about the Secret Service's advance team's failure to identify the sloped rooftop as a potential threat zone. Cruz argued, "I'm pretty sure the roof didn't suddenly slant itself in between when they advanced the scene and when it occurred. In other words, they could have figured out if your quote 'mitigation' is countersnipers and they don't have a line of sight to a place a sniper could be, then you don't have effective mitigation. She addressed none of that."
Cheatle is set to appear before the House Oversight Committee at a congressional hearing on Monday, where she will likely face further questions about the lack of drone deployment. House Speaker Mike Johnson has also expressed his concerns about the absence of drones, stating, "It is standard practice now for drones to be in the air over an event like this." Johnson plans to establish a task force to investigate the security failures that transpired.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the Secret Service did not request Special Government Interest waivers to fly drones over the event. An FAA spokesperson stated, "The FAA did not issue any event SGI waivers prior to last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. On-scene law enforcement could have been operating drones under their individual agency authorizations."
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment on the ongoing investigation but assured that the agency is committed to cooperating with all relevant investigations. Cheatle, in an interview with ABC News, admitted that the shooting was "unacceptable" and "something that shouldn't happen again." She explained that snipers were not positioned on the sloped rooftop due to safety concerns.
President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review of the incident, promising to share the findings with the American public. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general has also initiated an investigation into the Secret Service's handling of the shooting.
As these investigations unfold, the nation awaits answers to the pressing questions surrounding the security lapses that led to the attempted assassination of a former president.
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