Ever since the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump, one of the biggest questions has been who did not properly secure the building where the shooter took his shot.
The Secret Service had stated that the local authorities were going to secure it, but a recent report by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says otherwise.
Talking Points…
- Securing the building
- Grassley drops bombshell report
- Analysis
The building upon which the Trump shooter set up had a clear line of sight to the stage and was an obvious concern for the Secret Service when they were setting up for the rally. From the early reports I read, the Secret Service had told local authorities they were running on a short staff and needed local police to secure that building. Local police spoke out after the fact saying they told the Secret Service they did not have the manpower to staff that particular building as well as man their other stations.
There is now bodycam footage that supports that claim, which was taken during the actual assassination attempt. If you watch the video below, you will hear a local police officer approach the officers at the building where the shooter was taken out, saying they told the Secret Service two days before that building needed to be covered…
The Secret Service replied to the new video footage that was released, stating:
"The U.S. Secret Service is aware of and reviewing the bodycam footage from July 13 that was recently released by local law enforcement.
"The U.S. Secret Service appreciates our local law enforcement partners, who acted courageously as they worked to locate the shooter that day. The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was a U.S. Secret Service failure, and we are reviewing and updating our protective policies and procedures in order to ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again."
Senator Grassley wrote a letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, raising his concerns about the lack of coverage on that roof based on the results of their investigation thus far. In part, he wrote:
"Butler County law enforcement officials stated that at separate times during the walkthrough when they reiterated their concerns to the agents and counter-sniper about securing the AGR complex buildings, the agents responded: 'We will take care of it.'
"Butler County law enforcement officials said they told the Secret Service counter-sniper that they didn't have the manpower to cover the AGR complex buildings and asked that the whole area be 'locked down.'"
According to locals in the area that was close to the rally site, they were never even interviewed by the Secret Service or law enforcement. Valerie Fennell, whose property is right behind the fairgrounds, stated:
"Nobody contacted me. Nobody. Nobody called me, nobody stopped here.
"I kinda was thinking that as close as my house is, that I honestly thought this might be part of a command station at some point."
To this point, Senator Grassley appears to be getting stonewalled by the Secret Service, and he is not happy about it. But let's face facts… they know they screwed up, and nobody is in a rush for the American people to see just how badly they botched Trump's protection that day. Grassley, however, is a bulldog, and he is not going to let this stand, so he told the acting director as much.
To be clear, Republicans are not the only ones upset about this, as Democrats have also expressed frustration with the Secret Service's Secret Service's lack of cooperation. For instance, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that he is reaching the point of "outrage" and said what the agency is doing right now is "tantamount to stonewalling." At some point, I would not be surprised at all to see former Director Kimberly Cheatle brought up on charges over this debacle.
