Check The Location Of The Incident, Acting Director Of US Secret Service Claims To Be Embarrassed By Trump's Shooting
JAKARTA - The acting new director of the United States (US) Secret Service admitted to being "malrified" by the security failures that occurred before the attempted assassination of Republican candidate Donald Trump on July 13 during the Pennsylvania campaign.
As reported by Reuters, in testimony released before a speech to the two Senate committees, Acting Secret Service Ronald Rowe said he visited the location of the general meeting campaign in Butler.
Rowe climbed onto the roof of the building near where Thomas Crooks (20) fired a shot that injured Trump's right ear with an AR-15 rifle.
"What I saw embarrassed me," Rowe said in testimony prepared for a joint hearing of the Senate Domestic Security and Justice Committee.
"As a law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran at the Secret Service, I can't defend why the roof wasn't properly secured," he added, Tuesday, July 30.
Rowe's striking acknowledgment of security flaws came after Secret Service boss Kimberly Cheatle stepped down under pressure from Congress after refusing to elaborate on the security shortage in his testimony before parliamentary panels.
Rowe tried to convince lawmakers she had taken steps to prevent similar irregularities amid concerns among Democrats and Republicans over further political violence as the campaign intensified ahead of the US elections on November 5.
"I direct our personnel to ensure any security plans for the location of the event are thoroughly inspected by some experienced researchers before being implemented," said Rowe.
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Rowe is scheduled to testify with Paul Abbate, deputy director of the FBI, who will interview Trump on Thursday, August 1, as part of an investigation into the shooting.
Trump's assassination attempt became a topic of multiple investigation by the House of Representatives and Senate committees, as well as a new bipartisan task force formed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Party leader in the House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries.
Investigators have not been able to determine a clear motive for Crooks who is described as a close friendless solitary and social network limited, especially to close family members.
A lot of attention revolved around the timeline from the time law enforcement officers first saw Crooks until the sniper killed him after he opened fire.
The FBI said on Monday, July 29, Crooks first caught police attention more than an hour before he fired at least eight shots at the former president.
A local officer took a photo of Crooks and sent it to another law enforcement officer at the scene. About 30 minutes later, members of themen saw Crooks using surveillance and tracking news sites, the FBI said.