20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to fire several shots with his semi-automatic rifle from his perch on a roof overlooking the scene before he was neutralized by Secret Service snipers. Eyewitness Greg Smith says he saw the shooter several minutes earlier. – I thought to myself: Why is Trump still talking, why haven’t they pulled him off the stage? The next thing that happens is that five shots are heard, says Smith to the BBC. “They were one step behind” Now the whole world is wondering how it could happen. NBC describes the mistake as the biggest since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot outside a Washington DC hotel in 1981, and has spoken to several experts. – They were a step behind, they would have had the places covered in advance, says former police officer Steve Nottingham, who has previously been responsible for the security of several world leaders. Jim Cavanaugh worked before his retirement as a special agent with the Secret Service and says it is routine to secure all heights and ceilings. – It is incomprehensible to me that anyone was even up there, he says. When FBI special agent Kevin Rojek held a press conference on Sunday morning, he agreed that it was “surprising” that the perpetrator managed to fire so many shots. Calling the boss Republicans want to launch an investigation to go through how the shooter managed to elude the Secret Service personnel and get on the roof. House Speaker Mike Johnson writes the following on X: “The American people deserve to hear the truth. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other affected executives will be heard from us as soon as possible.” Trump himself thanked Secret Service personnel in a message on Truth Social. The Secret Service is also said to have started its own internal investigation.
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