The US Secret Service is facing criticism for its biggest failure in decades following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, with multiple witnesses claiming they had informed authorities about the attacker before he opened fire, further worsening the crisis.
Questions facing authorities include how a lone 20-year-old shooter was able to spot an open rooftop barely a football field away from the former president, get to that location, and open fire, and why authorities took no action despite several bystanders pointing out a “shooter” on the rooftop.
Grant Godwin, a “citizen journalist”, posted a video filmed by supporters at Trump’s rally that showed the alleged shooter moving into his position.
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A man can be heard calling out to nearby security officers, “Officer! Officer!” and another man can be heard saying, “Yeah, someone’s on the roof,” and pointing to the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The “shooter” can be seen climbing onto the roof of a shed, which is about 400 feet or less than 150 meters from Trump’s stage. He tries to stay down by crawling after climbing onto the roof.
A man can be heard saying, “Someone is on the roof… right there… can you see him? He’s lying down… yes, he’s lying down.”
“Yes, look, there he is…” said the other one.
Sharing the video on Instagram, Godwin wrote: “How did this happen?! The amount of time it took for the Secret Service and law enforcement to neutralize this threat is ridiculous. I don’t understand it. You’re telling me people at the rally recognized this man ahead of time, notified law enforcement, and yet they didn’t apprehend this man before shots were fired? This is extremely concerning.”
Reacting to the video, one user wrote: “I’ve seen better security than this at Foot Locker.”
“So some 20-year-old kid is lucky enough to have access to a location to take a candid photo of Trump? The only location they needed to secure? This makes no sense,” another said.
“Walmart security could have kicked that guy out,” a third said.