Why did Secret Service let shooter get so close to Trump, former agents ask

globalnews.ca:

The failed assassination of Donald Trump has spurred a lot of questions and concerns since Saturday, one of the biggest being how the U.S. Secret Service could let something like this happen.

On Saturday afternoon, a sniper was able to obtain rooftop access to a building roughly 150 metres from where the former U.S. president was speaking at a Pennsylvania rally. He fired multiple shots from astonishingly close range, grazing Trump’s ear with one bullet, killing a supporter sitting on the stage and injuring two others.

Multiple witnesses who were outside the rally venue but close to the building said they spotted the gunman and tried to warn nearby officers of his presence.

The Associated Press reported two law enforcement officials said a local police officer tried to confront the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, on the roof before the shooting. But the officer retreated when Crooks pointed a rifle at him, and within seconds the attacker took aim and fired at Trump.

President Joe Biden said Sunday he has directed an independent review of the security at the rally.

But former U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents are speaking out, raising questions about the size of the security perimeter for the event as well as efforts to secure buildings in the area, including the American Glass Research building, from where Crooks took his shots before being killed by Secret Service counter-assault snipers.

Charles Marino, a former Secret Service agent, told the BBC it would have been the task of agents to survey the surroundings and note “concerning areas.”

Paul Eckloff, a former Secret Service agent who retired in 2020, agreed, telling Reuters that agents would have surveyed all the rooftops with a line of sight ahead of time.

“This