Rep. Eli Crane: A Sniper Team on Water Tower Could’ve ‘Taken Out’ Would-Be Trump Assassin

On Monday, former Navy SEAL and current U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-2) posted a video of himself standing on the sloped roof from which Trump’s would-be assassin fired, and he noted that a Secret Service sniper team on the nearby water tower would have eliminated the shooter before he even got into position.

Crane began his video message by noting the roof on which the would-be assassin took his position is not that steep of slope. This runs counter to Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle’s messaging, as she told ABC News, “That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point, And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof.”

But Crane indicated, “It’s not that steep at all. We just had a 70-year-old man … climb up on the roof easily.”

As Crane spoke, a water tower could be seen behind him and he said, “See that water tower behind me? Had Secret Service or anyone else had a sniper team up there, [the would-be assassin] wouldn’t have made it five feet up this roof. He would have been taken out.”

Crane then rotated nearly 180 degrees to show a building that stands a story taller than the one on which the would-be assassin took his position.

He focused on that building, which has windows on the second story, and he and noted that “Secret Service was supposedly in the second floor of [the] building.”

Crane added, “Makes you wonder why they weren’t able to quickly dispatch the individual.”

Crane observed there are a lot of questions yet to be answered in Butler, Pennsylvania, the town in which the would-be assassin attempted to take Trump’s life. He also noted that he looks forward to doing oversight and getting those questions answered.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.