The Secret Service allegedly told local law enforcement that it would cover the rooftop where a gunman fired at former President Donald Trump during his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a new whistleblower account.
One of the local law enforcement officers involved in securing the Butler rally came forward as a whistleblower to a House GOP group investigating the assassination attempt.
“The Secret Service said they were covering that roof,” Rep. Cory Mills, Florida Republican, told The Washington Times.
Mr. Mills, who is leading the independent investigation along with a handful of other GOP colleagues, said his group plans to hold a public forum “soon” with the law enforcement whistleblower, who works in a local Emergency Service Unit that provided security that day.
“The new whistleblower we have is actually on one of the ESU teams, and he’ll be able to paint a different picture of why it wasn’t the ESU, but it was actually the Secret Service who determined the perimeter bubble,” Mr. Mills said.
He declined to say whether the whistleblower works for Butler County ESU, which provided countersniper coverage at the AGR International Inc. complex adjacent to the Butler Farm Show rally site.
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The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, used HVAC equipment and a pipe to climb onto the rooftop of the AGR building closest to site and fired at Mr. Trump, hitting him in the ear. Crooks fired eight rounds, killing one rallygoer and injuring two others, before one of the Secret Service snipers shot and killed him.
The whistleblower’s account varies from remarks that Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe made at a news conference Friday detailing initial findings of the agency’s internal probe into the Butler assassination attempt.
“There was a discussion about how the roof was going to be secured” and a Secret Service “assumption” that local law enforcement had it covered, he said. “But there clearly was not that follow-up to make sure.”
Mr. Rowe’s remarks vary somewhat from the Secret Service’s summary report on its findings, which said the agency’s advance team did not have contact with the local sniper team assigned to the AGR building before the rally because that team was brought in through a local partner.
The local snipers were stationed in the second floor of the AGR building, a position which multiple law enforcement entities questioned but did not push to modify.
“There was also no discussion with Secret Service advance personnel about positioning that team atop the AGR roof,” the report said. “Local sniper support were apparently not opposed to that location.”
Mr. Mills said the local ESU officer is one of “a couple of new whistleblowers” whom his group is planning to have testify before a public forum. In addition to the account about the rooftop coverage plan, the whistleblowers will answer questions on security assets that local law enforcement offered but that the Secret Service refused, he said.
“We know that they refused the surveillance drone capabilities, we know they refused compatible communications,” Mr. Mills said.
The public forum is not scheduled, and it won’t occur until sometime after next week, he said, noting he’s coordinating with his colleagues to find a good time to hold it.
Other Republicans involved in the independent investigation include Reps. Eli Crane and Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Chip Roy of Texas.
The group already held one public forum last month that included testimony from a SWAT officer who worked the July 13 rally and a former Secret Service agent.
Mr. Mills’ group is a rogue offshoot formed amid frustration that he and Mr. Crane, the only members of Congress with sniper training, were left off the official bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempt.
Still, Mr. Mills said his group is sharing all the information it’s gathering in its independent investigation with the task force, which has subpoena power and can dig further.
“This isn’t trying to run an independent investigation where we hold information,” he said. “We just want to basically put the pressure on them to do what’s necessary to be able to get answers.”
The task force is planning to release an interim report on its Butler probe next week and is holding its first public hearing Thursday.
The witnesses have not been announced, but task force leaders told The Washington Times they would be bringing in local law enforcement officials. The title of the hearing, “The Secret Service’s Reliance on State and Local Law Enforcement,” previews the narrative that will unfold from those witnesses’ testimony.
The House task force and Mr. Mills’ group are also investigating the second assassination attempt that occurred Sunday when a man perched outside Mr. Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a SKS-style rifle and was stopped by the Secret Service before he fired any shots.
“It shows two vital-like errors, which is the fact that they don’t clear their perimeter,” Mr. Mills said of the Secret Service.
He said the incident was “a very similar situation” to Butler in that regard and that the would-be assassin in Florida was only 500 yards away with a rifle that can shoot farther than that.
Mr. Mills said he feels better knowing that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is running an independent investigation on Sunday’s attempt. The congressman and others in his group have said they don’t trust the FBI and Secret Service to get to the bottom of either assassination attempt.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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