Was the police and Secret Service aware of the Donald Trump rally shooting in advance?

No matter where one stands on the political spectrum, it is unequivocal that political violence – any form of unwarranted violence – should have no place in any democratic system. In every country needless violence should be repudiated, and, if we want our democracies to endure the race to an election, it should be fought with ballots, not bullets.

July 13, 2024, proved to be an extremely scary day for America, and truly, for the rest of the world that has their eyes on the country’s contentious presidential race leading up to November. Former President Donald Trump faced an attempt on his life, with the gunman’s bullet having landed on the upper part of his ear, piercing the skin, but missing his head by an inch.

On the House hearing on Monday, July 22, former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted that “the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.” The next morning, after multiple calls to resign from her position, Cheatle announced she was doing so.

Even after the recent hearing, the question lingering on many people’s minds is: How could this have happened? The police and Secret Services were present, and especially the latter should be more than ready to act swiftly at all times. It would stand to reason that they were caught completely by surprise. However, evidence suggests that the Secret Services and police had been warned in advance by people in the crowd, which leads to the reasonable conclusion that the shooting was not unavoidable.

Were Secret Services and police aware of the shooter’s presence?

BBC News was on the ground and covered the incident extensively, including interviewing a number of the Pennsylvania rally spectators. One of them, in particular, had more knowledge to impart than the rest, having become aware of the shooter before he even opened fire.

According to this eyewitness, not only were police warned by him and the people, who also saw the gunman crawl on the roof, but Secret Services also seemed to notice the supporters signaling. It was sufficiently in advance that this gentleman couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t act swiftly and remove Trump off the podium. The supporter speculated that security received 3 to 4 minutes of warning before the shooting.

Although the eyewitness admitted that the Secret Services likely could not see the gunman from their angle, he nevertheless questioned why no one had been stationed on that roof, considering that the perimeter was not overwhelmingly large. In an interview before the House hearing, Kimberly Cheatle offered the flimsy reasoning that the roof being sloped was a contributor to having no agent stationed on it, in case they were to fall off.

Since this interview aired, we have learned more about what occurred at the rally and the errors committed. On The New York Times The Daily podcast, reporter Glen Thrush called this a “monumental failure” on the part of the Secret Service. It appears that the local security outside the established Secret Service perimeter was concerningly less, and some of the buildings, including the one the shooter was on, were covered by blind spots.

Earlier on the day of the rally, the shooter used a drone to survey the area of the event. According to his phone’s geolocation, the shooter arrived shortly after 4 in the afternoon. His first identification is marked at 5:06 pm, when is spotted standing isolated in a short video taken by an attendee. Shortly after, Butler police finally take notice of Matthew Crooks‘ suspicious presence and alert the Secret Service. However, for some reason, Crooks’ status wasn’t upgraded from suspicious to active threat.

At 6:09, Trump has taken the stage for no more than 6 minutes, when people, like the gentlemen in the interview above, observe the shooter climbing onto the slanted rooftop and start yelling to attract law enforcement’s attention. A pair of Butler police officers decide to investigate, one hoisting the other to allow them to see where Crooks was lying with this firearm. Because they are using their hands to hang onto the roof, the officer is unable to pull out their own weapon, thus, when the shooter turns their rifle on them, the officer, likely startled and without much alternative, falls down. However, as Thrush stated, this was a “missed opportunity” to prevent the shooting from happening.

On CNN, after watching President Joe Biden address the Republican nominee’s assassination attempt and rightfully condemn the act of violence, it was mentioned how the rhetoric that has been used to refer to the presidential contestants on either side has contributed to this horrific event. Unfortunately, in many modern democracies, with America being a prime example, people are allowing emotions of political division to drive them further into toxic polarization. As philosopher Martha Nussbaum wrote in The Monarchy of Fear (2018): “There’s a lot of fear around in the US today, and this fear is often mingled with anger, blame, and envy. Fear all too often blocks rational deliberation, poisons hope, and impedes constructive cooperation for a better future.”

This shocking event will do nothing to quench the fear that has spread throughout the country and inflamed political rhetoric. Hopefully, there will be no more scares of this kind as they are not what a democracy is supposed to be about. We would expect that security at future rallies and political events will be tighter, more prepared, and not allow the same oversights to take place.

The Former president was injured, along with two other people in the audience. Unfortunately, one supporter was hit by a bullet that missed Trump and unfortunately became one of the two casualties of the incident, including the gunman who was neutralized on site. An investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.