No. of Recommendations: 4
Let's get this in before Dope gets out of control with glee.
Just saw some new reporting from ABC. It appears that Crooks was identified as a person of interest about an hour before the shooting. I'm going to slightly discount this information. Not because I don't believe it, but because if you interrupt a protectee's schedule every time a person of interest is identified, your protectee will never do anything. Keep an eye on this person, of course. And perhaps don't let them in to the secured perimeter. But the event goes on.
The next bits are far more disturbing. It seems that Crooks was spotted on the roof 20 minutes before the shooting started. And he was spotted by the Secret Service. That's pretty damning right there. If he isn't dealt with in some way (like having the local police get him off the roof, and probably arrested on trespassing charges as a start), you don't let Trump out on to the stage. There's no passing the buck on that one.
Of course, the reporter then goes on to say that how Crooks got on the roof undetected is still an open question. No, it's not. He WAS detected - at least that's what the reporter said just a couple of sentences previously.
Then there's the local sheriff. He starts by praising his deputies for their work once the shooting stopped. And I'm sure they did do a good job at that point - once the damage is done. There's also a report that the sheriff warned the Secret Service that he didn't have enough officers to cover all of the buildings. Secret Service then asked for a cruiser to be at the building, but that request was denied. This is one of those things that could either be true or it could be some after the fact butt covering. If true, Secret Service should try to bring things to a halt while this problem is worked out. There are multiple ways to deal with the manpower problem - pick one and implement it.
On the other hand, I can certain envision Trump telling Secret Service to stuff it and let the event go on anyway. I'm certain there would have been pressure to keep the event on track and on time. The same could easily be said about spotting Crooks on the roof as noted above. Although knowing both that a building was likely to be unsecured AND that someone was spotted on the roof of the building should be enough for the Secret Service to go into full protection mode and physically stuff the orange moron's butt into the car and get him out in spite of his squealing and complaining.
Now let's think a bit further. We know that there is tremendous pressure from the Trump campaign - and likely from Trump personally - to let the event go on as scheduled. We know back almost 4 years ago as the sitting President that he tried to talk Secret Service into letting people in to his Jan 6 rally without using the metal detectors. (A request that was denied, I'll note. They stood up to him then.) We also know that Trump has a way of getting people to improperly do things for him. His Navy valet in the White House left the Navy and went to work for Trump after his term ended. I seem to recall a Secret Service agent and member of Trump's detail leaving the service during Trump's term and taking a position in the administration. Both of these are highly irregular. It would not surprise me if the current Secret Service detail is similarly affected, letting pressure from Trump and the campaign override their professional judgement. We even see a bit of evidence for this in the evacuation of Trump immediately after the shooting. He wants to get his shoes, and they let him. He wants to raise his angry fist, and they let him. Twice. This is not to shift blame from the Secret Service, but merely to point out the pressure they likely operate under. If they did let Trump influence their professional judgement, that is their responsibility.
With sufficient information now available, I'm ready to start laying some blame on the Secret Service. This does appear to be a failure on their part.
Now I want to know if these kinds of things have been happening at other events. Have their been manpower shortages at other rallies that were left unaddressed? Were there similar security holes that were left open? Is this a pattern or just a one time event? Another question would be what does the turnover on his detail look like? Are agents asking to be reassigned away from his detail? What do some of his former agents have to say about their working conditions? Unfortunately, some of those latter questions are unlikely to be answered since Secret Service also operates under some significant confidentiality rules. They don't talk about those things to outsiders.
We know more today than we did yesterday. There's still more to learn.
--Peter
