Secret Service Director says the roof was too steep for snipers

Tristan JusticeJuly 16, 2024

Rg said Cheatle’s actions “failed to protect the president,” and Indiana Rep. Jim Banks added that her defenses “ring hollow.”

Rep. Boebert said, “The Secret Service ‌failed to protect President ‍Trump. We can’t‌ trust⁢ them to protect us.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also reacted to Cheatle’s comments and defended the Secret Service protecting Trump.

“I think the Secret Service was able‍ to react quickly once something happened, but we also know that⁤ there⁣ was a lot of buildup ⁤and intel that suggested that ‍there⁢ could be a problem, ⁢and the fact that they didn’t have snipers on the ⁢roof just floors me,” ⁢DeSantis said.

“What that means⁣ is that ‌they weren’t fully prepared for something ⁢that they had every reason to anticipate.”

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump urged Cheatle to resign her post as Secret Service director. The former president argued that the agency failures‍ had left him vulnerable to attack – bemoaning ⁣the incident⁢ as⁣ an “attempted assassination,” despite initial ‌reports from the Secret Service to the contrary.

Trump said, Cheatle must “immediately‍ resign. This won’t be the last time things like this happen if⁤ she⁣ is allowed to stay on as Director ‌of the United States Secret Service.”

However, Cheatle was the longest-serving director of the Secret Service before Saturday’s shooting and has⁤ held‌ the chief spot ⁢since 2020.

ABC had the explosive exchange with Cheatle as the ⁤exclusive lifter of the shooting aftermath⁢ details after Cheatle confirmed not once⁤ but twice ‌that there were no⁢ snipers on the rooftop that the shooter targeted from.

When ⁢she was⁢ asked if federal officials considered instead of⁣ sniper positions why not just have camera ‍surveillance monitoring the building ‌roof, Cheatle responded by saying, “It wasn’t something that was considered. It was ⁢not something that was ⁣brought to our attention and raised casually ‍that, hey, do we have‌ something from a camera perspective that we may⁤ need to kind of close this gap.”

Four people were injured in the shooting at the event, including Trump, who was grazed by a bullet. The former president has since been meeting with victims ‍of the attack and thanking them for their courage and heroism in the face of ‌danger.

The FBI is also serving as a lead⁣ investigative agency into the shooting.

WQAD News 8 / YouTube

The Secret Service director said the security agency did not station snipers on top of the Pennsylvania roof from which a gunman shot former President Donald Trump last weekend because it was “sloped.”

Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service chief re f using calls to step down after Trump was shot in the head, told ABC News that federal officials opted to forgo snipers on the rooftop that was identified as a security threat days before the event.

“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” she said. “And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.”

Three counter-snipers were positioned in the building underneath the roof from which Saturday’s gunman fired multiple shots killing one rallygoer and injuring three others, including Trump. The event’s security “command center” was even notified of the shooter moments before the would-be assassin began firing into the crowd.

“The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion,” Cheatle told ABC. “Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded, by the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president.”

Cheatle told the network, “The buck stops with me,” but she continued to resist calls to resign her post as head of the federal security agency.

Republican Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert introduced legislation Monday to strip the Secret Service director of her salary and expense reimbursements after last weekend’s failed assassination attempt of the GOP presidential nominee.

I’ve introduced legislation to hold Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle accountable for the agency’s incompetence and failure to protect President Trump during the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally. pic.twitter.com/8SIASxecCM

— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) July 15, 2024

A source told The Federalist on Saturday that Trump’s security detail had requested more protection and resources, but the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security denied it “time and again.”

The federal agency has continued to place blame for the shooting on local law enforcement, whom officials coopt for presidential events such as the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where former President Trump lost part of his right ear. But the Secret Service is ultimately responsible for the overall security plan, and according to the Washington Post, “also has primary responsibility for addressing the risk of a long-range shooter and blocking lines of sight, including by instructing local police to secure or stand guard at buildings that could provide an opportunity for an attacker.”

“The Service is responsible for everything, not just the inner perimeter,” one former Secret Service agent told CNN. “They should make sure all of this is covered.”

Trump made his first public appearance since the failed assassination attempt at the Republican National Convention (RNC) Monday night. The former president walked out to the arena in Milwaukee to the song “God Bless the U.S.A.” as delegates welcomed the former commander-in-chief to the convention for a third White House nomination.

NOW – Trump, visibly emotional, makes first public appearance, since assassination attempt, at RNC. pic.twitter.com/0vpjcKzRsl

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 16, 2024

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan's email newsletter here.

Tristan Justice

@JusticeTristan