The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and wound former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a monumental failure in one of the federal agency’s core duties.
The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired several shots at the scene from an “elevated position outside the rally site,” the agency said.
An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite images of the site, shows the shooter was able to get surprisingly close to the scene where the former president was speaking. A video posted on social media and geotagged by the AP shows the body of a man wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump’s rally was held.
The rooftop was less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking, a distance at which a good sniper could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For example, 150 yards is the distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized figure to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, which the shooter at the Trump rally had, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.
The FBI identified the shooter early Sunday as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service did not send anyone to a late-night news conference Saturday, where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the investigation into the shooting. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that the shooter could have fired onstage before being killed.
Members of the Secret Service’s counter-sniper team and counter-attack team were present at the rally, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.
The heavily armed counter-attack team, codenamed “Hawkeye” by the Secret Service, is tasked with eliminating threats so that other agents can protect and take away the person they are protecting. The counter-sniper team, codenamed “Hercules,” uses long-range binoculars and is equipped with sniper rifles to deal with long-range threats.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service were working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. Keeping presidential candidates and their campaign events safe is one of the department’s “most vital priorities,” he said.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for its swift action today,” Mayorkas said. “We are committed to President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible step to ensure their safety and security.”
Calls for an investigation come from all sides
James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he has contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and has called for the service’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, to appear for a hearing. Comer said his committee would send a formal invitation soon.
“Political violence in any form is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called for an investigation into “security failures” at the rally.
“The federal government must constantly learn from security failures to avoid repeating them, especially when those failures have implications for the nation,” Torres said.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted on the social network X that he and his team were in contact with security planning coordinators ahead of the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “We cannot be a country that accepts any form of political violence — that’s not who we are as Americans,” Evers said.
The FBI said it will lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would “use all available resources in this investigation.”
“My heart goes out to the former president, the injured, and the family of the bystander killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said in a statement. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and such violence is an attack on our democracy.”
