The man who shot Donald Trump on Saturday was in the “perfect spot” to kill the former president, a security expert has revealed, highlighting how “massive” the Secret Service’s failure is.
Twenty-year-old Thomas Crooks fired multiple shots at Trump’s head from a building nearly 165 yards from the stage where the former president was speaking during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
A bullet severed the former president’s ear while two others were seriously injured and former firefighter Corey Comperatore tragically lost his life while heroically defending his family from the fire.
Darin Gaub, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and operator of a private security firm, told DailyMail.com exclusively that he is surprised the Secret Service did not secure the building where Crooks was located.
He simply called it the best possible place to kill the former president, something the Secret Service should have known.
“That other building that the sniper was in was a perfect place to get an overview of the entire crowd and be able to see what was going on from that angle,” he said.
“I would definitely have chosen that spot to put someone there,” he added.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said the agency’s handling of the protest was “unacceptable.”
He also noted in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday that the roof from which Crooks fired was unsafe for stationed officers because of its slight slope.
“That particular building has a sloped roof at its highest point. So there’s a safety factor that has to be taken into account because we don’t want to put someone on a sloped roof,” he explained as the reason for not sending a Secret Service team to the scene.
Gaub was incredulous at Cheatle’s reasoning.
“I think it’s nonsense. It’s just an excuse. It’s not a valid reason,” he said.
The Secret Service ‘already had snipers on a pitched roof of the same design 150 yards away, making the whole affair a mockery.’
He accused Cheatle of lying, saying his reasoning makes perfect sense.
“Anyone who has any idea what they’re doing will look at that spot and realize it’s the perfect place to put someone.”
A screenshot from a video shows the shooter was killed by the Secret Service, according to an agency source.
Security personnel stand over the body of the shooter on a rooftop near the Trump rally. Cheatle said he did not send officers to that roof because of its slope and the safety concerns posed by such a surface.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump reacts after gunshots were heard during a campaign rally
Shortly after the shooting, Cheatle attempted to shift blame from the Secret Service to others.
She had said that local authorities were in charge of securing the building where Crooks was located.
He later backtracked, saying the Secret Service was “solely responsible” for failing to prevent the attack.
Gaub said that during his military service he was taught about “force protection” – the elaborate measures service members follow to protect bases in Iraq and Afghanistan from hostile forces.
“Just like this sniper used in Pennsylvania, those principles are all the same, and you can clearly look at this staging area and see what the most critical places are that someone needs to be.”
A Secret Service sniper unit is seen on the roof behind Trump. This team is believed to have returned fire on Crooks after he shot Trump. The roof they were deployed on also has a slope shown in this image.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is removed from the stage after being shot
“And that building that that sniper was in was one of the most critical locations there.”
A crucial part of security work involves thinking like the enemy and considering what their plans of attack might be.
In the case of Saturday’s rally, there were few buildings with as clear a line of sight to the president as the one Crooks selected.
The Secret Service’s failure to identify the rooftop from which Crooks fired as a significant threat shows a strategic failure on the part of the agency, the veteran told DailyMail.com.
“This is one of the most relentless jobs in the world and when you make a mistake, you lose a life,” he said.
“And a mistake was made.”