U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle speaks during a news conference at the Secret Service Chicago Field Office ahead of the 2024 Democratic and Republican National Conventions in Chicago, Illinois, June 4, 2024 .
Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images
A U.S. Secret Service official said Wednesday that a local police SWAT team in Pennsylvania was actually in a different building than the one where a would-be assassin used the roof to open fire on former President Trump on Saturday.
New statement from Secret Service official contradicts previous statement by Secret Service director Kimberly Chittle The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was on top of a building housing a SWAT team near a Trump campaign rally in Butler Township.
The contradiction is sure to exacerbate already acute questions about whether the Secret Service acted appropriately in arranging security for the rally. attendees, injured two others, and the rally ended.
The day before, it was reported that the Secret Service learned that the Iranian government was plotting to assassinate Trump before Saturday’s shooting and stepped up security protection for Trump.
Secret Service officials told NBC News on Wednesday that the local SWAT team is not in the building where Crooks climbed, but in another building in the same business complex. The official said the building is connected to a building used by Crooks but could not say which building.
In contrast, Chettle told abc news In an interview earlier this week, “There are local police officers in that building — there are local police officers in the area who are responsible for the perimeter of the building.”
Map of Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
Source: NBC News | Google Earth
Chatel also said that the building Crooks used as a filming location “specifically had a sloping roof at the highest point.”
“So, you know, there’s a safety factor that we look at, we want to put people on pitched roofs,” Chettle said. So, you know, we decided to protect the building from the inside.
Chettle said local police were assigned to secure the area, which included multiple buildings outside a cordon set up by the Secret Service.
In a statement late Wednesday, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC News, “The director was referring to the AGR Glass ‘Building,’ which is a collection of interconnected residences. of large manufacturing complexes.
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