A Beaver County police counter-sniper stationed inside the building used by the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump saw the would-be assassin with a range finder, scoping out the rooftop, and had warned a command center about him, according to a report.
The Beaver Countian reported Monday evening that the counter-sniper, who was serving as one of three counter-snipers stationed inside the building as a member of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), saw the man return with a backpack before he scaled the building.
The outlet reported that a security operations plan had placed each of the three counter-snipers inside of the building looking out of windows towards the rally, with none stationed on the roof.
The outlet said that due to a lack of manpower, the men did not have spotters assigned to them, as would be standard operating procedure. Spotters assist snipers with finding and assessing targets, measuring windspeed or distance to a target, or help to assess impact or make adjustments.
At least one counter-sniper was from the Monaca Borough Police Department, who was providing security at the rally as a member of the Beaver County ESU, which is the equivalent of a SWAT team, the outlet reported.
Multiple local law enforcement sources claimed to the outlet a lack of manpower and “extremely poor planning” put Trump’s life in danger.
CBS News reported that after Crooks was first spotted, he came back, sat down and looked at his phone, and at that point, one of the counter-snipers took a photo of him. Crooks then took out a range finder and the counter-sniper radioed to the command post. The Washington Post reported that the counter-sniper radioed the warning into a Secret Service command post.
Crooks then disappeared and came back a third time with a backpack. The counter-snipers called in with information that he had a backpack and was walking toward the back of the building, according to the report. Officers reportedly believe Crooks might have used an air conditioning unit to get on top of the roof.
CBS News said by the time other officers came for backup, Crooks had climbed on top of the building and was positioned “above and behind the counter-snipers inside the building.” The network said two other officers who had heard the counter-sniper’s call tried to get on the roof and that state police started rushing to the scene, but by that time, a Secret Service counter-sniper had already killed Crooks.
On Tuesday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle acknowledged that there was a decision to put the counter-snipers inside the building instead of on top of the building, citing concern that the roof was “sloped.”
Cheatle 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…And, so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building from inside.
Both Republicans and Democrats are demanding answers as to how Crooks was able to get so close to Trump and nearly succeed at assassinating him, and some are calling for Cheatle’s resignation. While she said in the interview that the “buck stops” with her, she said she had no plans to resign.
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