Tag: secret service

Bongino: There Was Supposed to be Someone on the Roof But They “Didn’t Show Up”

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino says an “unimpeachable source” told him there was supposed to be someone on the roof from where gunman Thomas Crooks shot at Trump but that they “didn’t show up.”

Bongino made the comments during an appearance on a podcast with Tucker Carlson at the RNC.

“So I was just showing Tucker some material from an unimpeachable source let’s just say on the matter,” said Bongino.

“That post, according to my source, that roof was supposed to be a police post, there was supposed to be someone there,” he added.

“They’re now making up excuses saying the pitch or the roof, my source says to me no one knows why the source didn’t show up, so that’s a nonsense story they’re putting out in the media,” Bongino asserted.

The former NYPD officer also claimed that Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has been told to “keep your mouth shut” by the Biden administration and the DHS if she wants to keep her job.

Bongino said if site post logs and police instructions were made public, it would unravel what really happened.

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CNN Report Claims Secret Service Ramped Up Security Based on Intel of Iran Plot Against Trump

CNN claimed on Tuesday that the US Secret Service ramped up security around Donald Trump in recent weeks based on intelligence from a single “human source” that Iran was plotting to assassinate the former president, accusations Tehran rejected as “unsubstantiated and malicious.”

The report offered no evidence for the claim and only cited unnamed people “briefed on the matter.” They said there was no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate Trump over the weekend, had any connection to the alleged plot.

The idea that the Secret Service increased security around Trump has been contested since Crooks was able to get off multiple shots from a nearby rooftop that wasn’t secured.

The report connected the alleged Iranian plot to Trump ordering the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who headed Iran’s Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In response to the report, Iran’s mission to the UN said, “These accusations are unsubstantiated and malicious. From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”

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Secret Service Director: We Didn’t Put Snipers On The Roof Because It Was Kind Of Sloped

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 refusing 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.

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“I’ve Heard From Him” – Biden When Asked If It’s Acceptable That He Hasn’t Heard From the Secret Service Director Since Trump Assassination Attempt – The SS Director is a WOMAN! 

Joe Biden sat down for an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt to discuss the assassination attempt against President Trump.

A bullet grazed President Trump’s ear on Saturday during his Pennsylvania rally.

In an appalling breach of security, a gunman was able to climb on top of a roof next to Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally and put Trump in his scope.

President Trump raised his fist and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” after a bullet grazed his ear.

Lester Holt asked Biden if it is acceptable that he has not heard from his DEI Secret Service Director.

“Is it acceptable that you have still not heard, at least publicly, from the Secret Service Director?” Lester Holt asked Biden.

“Oh, I’ve heard from him,” Biden said.

The Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheatle, is a WOMAN!

Lester Holt swooped in to save Joe Biden: “Have you heard from her publicly?”

Biden looked spooked as he realized the Secret Service Director is not a “he.”

He quickly thought of a lie.

“Publicly I’ve sat down in the Situation Room downstairs – the Secret Service, the FBI, National Security agencies – Homeland Security – all the major elements,” Biden said.

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A Failure of Secret Service Security So Astounding the Conspiracy Theories Write Themselves

As everyone knows, Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for the 2024 Presidential election, was nearly assassinated yesterday at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Many people – including many of my readers – have predicted that something like this would happen for a very long time.

A 20-year-old sniper named Thomas Matthew Crooks fired as many as eight shots in Trump’s direction, nine minutes after he began speaking. Crooks was perched on the roof of a building just north of Trump’s podium, and he succeeded only in wounding the former President in his right ear; two other spectators were critically injured and another was killed. The Secret Service Counter Assault Team brought the attack to an end with a fatal shot to Crooks’s head (here is a graphic image of the aftermath). Trump, meanwhile, ducked to the ground while agents shielded him with their bodies. Half a minute later he stood up, demanded that his protectors allow him to get his shoes, and raised a defiant fist to the audience, shouting “Fight, fight, fight”.

Almost anything I say about these events will be superseded by media reporting within hours, so I’ll limit myself to three points:

1) The failed assassination represents a security failure by United States Secret Service that is so astounding, it will rightly inspire conspiracy theories for years to come. Kevin Rojek, who heads the Pittsburg field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acknowledged that it was “surprising” that Crooks was able to take so many shots unchallenged. And I can think of no reason why Trump’s detail should’ve drawn their security perimeter to exclude a prominent, elevated firing position a mere 130 metres away from Trump’s podium. Finally, there is the fact that Crooks and his rifle were visible to spectators for minutes before he opened fire; multiple rally attendees tried to alert police, fruitlessly. There is even a screen grab of drone footage circulating on social media, showing Crooks climbing onto the building.

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Mission Creep and DEI in the Secret Service

If you ask most people about the role of the Secret Service, they would say it protects the president and presidential candidates. However, the Secret Service now has various other functions unrelated to presidential protection, raising the question of whether guarding the president should be an “also.”

Additionally, the president used to be guarded by big, strong men. Why is it wrong to consider that men and women have different skills and sizes, and perhaps guarding the president should remain the domain of big, strong men?

The “Our Protective Mission” section of the Secret Service website explains that its original mission of presidential protection was approved by Congress in 1906. However, the current mission is much broader, stating: “One Integrated Mission, Protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure.” It outlines four mission areas:

National Security: Protect world leaders, major events, and key locations.

Public Safety: Share threat assessment expertise for public safety.

Economic Safeguard: Protect the integrity of U.S. currency.

Cyber Investigations: Fight cybercrime to safeguard America’s financial infrastructure.

Mission creep could be one reason the Secret Service has struggled with its original mission, leading to numerous failures. This includes two dead presidents, one dead presidential candidate, and attempted assassinations on six U.S. presidents, two of whom were shot.

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Biden Finally Gives RFK Jr. Secret Service Protection

48 hours after a ‘deluded gunman‘ with no internet footprint tried to assassinate Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally from a nearby rooftop that should have been a layup for the Secret Service, the Biden administration is finally giving Secret Service protection to Robert Kennedy, Jr.

“In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.,” said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, adding “We are in a heightened and very dynamic threat environment.“

Earlier in the day, Trump said it was “imperative” that Kennedy be granted Secret Service protection.

“Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!” he said on Truth Social.

Over the weekend, Kennedy security consultant Gavin de Becker told Politico that the campaign had a pending formal request with the DHS.

Kennedy has repeatedly asked for Secret Service protection throughout his campaign for president – including after a man was arrested twice in the same day for scaling the fence of Kennedy’s Los Angeles home last October.

Kennedy had been twice refused by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“It’s not right for the President to provide protection to his family and political favorites while denying it to political rivals. During his first week as Attorney General, my father assembled all the DOJ’s senior prosecutors to tell them that he would not tolerate any politicization of law enforcement,” Kennedy wrote on X at the time.

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Secret Service blames local police, says they were tasked with securing properties surrounding Trump’s Pa. rally

The Secret Service blamed local police for failing to secure the rooftop from which gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, insisting it was outside the perimeter the federal agency was tasked with protecting.

Instead, securing and patrolling the factory grounds of AGR International Inc. — located about 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking Saturday — was the responsibility of local Pennsylvania police, Secret Service representative Anthony Gugliemi said, according to the New York Times.

The Secret Service was only tasked with covering the grounds where Trump’s rally took place, with local police being recruited to assist with those efforts and secure the area outside the rally.

But neighbors living near Butler Farm Show Grounds told The Post they were never visited by any law enforcement agencies — local or federal — in the days before or during the rally.

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Secret Service faces serious questions about security footprint and rooftop access at Trump event

In the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, there are widespread concerns and questions about how a sniper was able to obtain rooftop access roughly 150 meters from the former president’s position at the podium at an outdoor rally.

Sources have described the shooting as coming from the “three o’clock” position of Trump’s podium location, with shots coming from his right side. Seconds after gunfire rang out, Secret Service counter-assault snipers began shooting the suspect who was found on top of a roof.

Notably, the shooter’s location was outside the security perimeter, raising questions about both the size of the perimeter and efforts to sweep and secure the American Glass Research building, and how the shooter was able to obtain rooftop access.

President Joe Biden said Sunday he has directed US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle “to review all security measures – all security measures – for the Republican National Convention.”

“I’ve directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened. And I’ll share the results of that independent review with the American people,” Biden said.

Law enforcement sources say that part of the aftermath will include a review of whether the Secret Service had enough assets to protect Trump days ahead of officially becoming the Republican presidential nominee and whether procedures were followed to conduct security sweeps of the building that offered a vantage point for the alleged shooter.

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Analysis of Secret Service Failures in the Trump Assassination Attempt

The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday has led to widespread criticism of the Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting current and former U.S. presidents and presidential candidates. Observers have pointed out glaring errors in the protection of President Trump. The fact that he was so shot by a sniper from a distance of only 130 meters, from an easily visible and obvious position, highlights significant security failures. Mainstream media outlets are conducting interviews and publishing analyses of the various failures of the Secret Service in this incident. This article amalgamates the numerous failures outlined by experts and reported by multiple media sources.

Rooftop Security Lapses

A significant failure was the shooter’s ability to access the rooftop of the American Glass Research building, just 130 meters (140 yards) from where Trump was speaking. The U.S. Army’s primary manual on physical and executive security, FM 3-19.30 (formerly FM 19-30), outlines critical steps that were overlooked in this case. These include conducting a thorough tactical analysis to identify strategic points and potential threat areas, and performing detailed reconnaissance to gather real-time information through site surveys and intelligence resources. Ignoring these essential procedures likely contributed to the security breach that allowed the shooter to position himself with a clear line of sight to the former president. Furthermore, despite the presence of Secret Service counter-sniper teams, the shooter managed to open fire before being neutralized. This shows a major lapse in the advance security sweeps and the failure to eliminate sight lines to the stage.

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