Correction: This article originally reported that the Secret Service snipers were aware of Thomas Crooks being on the rooftop for two minutes before he began firing. However, this publication has since learned that it was the “counter sniper response agent” who was told about Crooks on the rooftop. The counter sniper response agent wasn’t an actual sniper on one of the barns behind Trump. Instead, he was on the ground and was one of the law enforcement agents heading towards the AGR building when the shooting began. Headline USA understands that the actual snipers weren’t told about Crooks being on the rooftop for reasons that are still unclear.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe announced at a Friday press conference the findings of his agency’s internal review of the security failures at the deadly July 13 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A five-page document summarizing the Secret Service report’s key conclusions was provided to the government-approved media at Friday’s presser. Most of the findings have already been documented through congressional testimony, news media investigations and other public statements.
However, Rowe did reveal information that was previously unknown to this writer. According to Rowe, the Secret Service’s snipers at Butler knew someone was on the rooftop by 6:10 p.m.—more than 90 seconds before the shooter, Thomas Crooks, opened fire.
My biggest takeaway from today's presser was that the Secret Service snipers *definitely* knew someone was on the AGR rooftop by 6:10 p.m. — about 90 seconds before the shooting began
We knew that the Secret Service command center was told Crooks was on the rooftop — but I… https://t.co/xgcqjQxq3m pic.twitter.com/CGpDJJlqep
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 20, 2024
Headline USA has already reported that a local cop spotted Crooks on the rooftop and notified his tactical commander for the Butler County mobile unit command at 6:08 p.m. This publication also reported that the Secret Service’s command post was notified by 6:09 p.m.—two minutes before the shooting—that Crooks was on the rooftop.
But what this publication didn’t know was whether the Secret Service command post relayed the information to its sniper team before the shooting started. Rowe removed that doubt on Friday.
“At approximately 18:10 local time, via local phone call, the Secret Service security room calls the counter sniper response agent, reporting an individual on the roof of the AGR building. That vital piece of information was not relayed on the Secret Service radio network,” Rowe said.
Later in the press conference, Rowe again confirmed that the local cop’s 6:08 p.m. sighting of Crooks on the rooftop was relayed to the snipers by 6:10 p.m.
“We had a member of Pennsylvania State Police in our security room, and that’s what spurred that phone call to the counter sniper response agent at 18:10,” Rowe said.
Friday’s report’s executive summary does not identify specific individuals who may be to blame nor does it indicate whether any staff members have been disciplined.The director at the time, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned more than a week after the shooting, saying she took full responsibility for the lapse.
The Secret Service’s investigation is one of numerous inquiries, including by Congress and a watchdog probe by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general office.
Rowe has said the July shooting and Sunday’s episode, in which 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents detected a rifle poking through shrubbery lining the West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where Trump was playing, underscore the need for a paradigm shift in how the agency protects public officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
