BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) – Members of Congress descended on the Butler County Agricultural Show grounds Monday to the site where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
This comes in anticipation of some further consultation from Secret Service Director Kimberley Cheatle on Tuesday in Washington, D. C.
Members of the House Homeland Security Committee said they came here looking for answers, but said doing so could have raised even more questions about the incident.
A caravan of committee members approached the box and began examining the places in question. Some even climbed to the roof of the building where Crooks shot and wounded the former president.
“We have a lot of questions,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
The committee needs to know why the perimeter of the land has not been secured. Why were warnings about a suspicious sighting of Crooks not heeded and how the Crooks were able to easily access the roof?
While it raised more questions than answers, committee members said some things had been clarified.
“It’s way too close. Being up on the rooftop, looking where the president was is so close for a sniper,” Rep. McCaul added.
They also spoke in particular of the building’s water tower, which they said would have allowed a government sniper to get a bird’s-eye view of the site. Others blamed the security failure on the Secret Service, which they said deserved to have mobilized local law enforcement to cover this and other vulnerabilities.
“There are things here that are evident. The apparent failure of the Secret Service, and I chose the Secret Service because they are responsible for advising, informing and directing all the other agencies on what they want to do to protect the site,” the representative said. Carlos Giménez (R-Florida).
Democratic members of the committee said Cheatle was at the center of the investigation and that they wanted to question him. They said she would be held liable at the end of the investigation.