A new video of the moments before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump early Sunday (Greece time) in Pennsylvania has come to light, raising new questions about the security gaps that allowed the incident to happen.
In the video, citizens are seen to have spotted 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks having climbed onto the roof from which he fired at the former US president.
"He's going up on the roof, you see him? Is he lying down?", "let's see him, he's lying down" citizens can be heard saying. "Police here, there's someone on the roof" someone in uniform shouts.
It is noted that according to the Associated Press citing security sources, an officer from the local police climbed onto the roof and saw Crooks who pointed the rifle at him. Then, according to the same sources, the officer retreated with Crooks firing in the next few seconds at Trump.
BREAKING:
New video shows just how early on people spotted the Trump shooter and started alerting the police pic.twitter.com/ZC2wrsJNfm
- Visegrad 24 (@ visegrad24) July 15, 2024
The Secret Service blames the local police
At the same time, a representative of the Secret Service who spoke to the New York Times blamed the shootings on the local police.
According to Anthony Giulemi, the 20-year-old was outside the perimeter that Secret Service agents were tasked with guarding.
According to him, the Secret Service was responsible for security at the site of the Trump rally, while the local Pennsylvania police were tasked with securing the area outside that site.
However, according to the New York Post, local residents said they were not visited by anyone in uniform before or during Trump's rally.
Source: protothema.gr
