U.S. News: Shooting Spotlights Role of Local Police

"From his second-row seat at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe heard a "bam-bam-bam" as the former president was speaking, and at first he thought about a complaint lodged earlier in the day about fireworks near the site.

Slupe said he learned later that a local police officer spotted gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks before he opened fire but was unable to stop him. The officer was helped by a colleague onto the roof where Crooks was positioned, but when Crooks turned toward him, the officer dropped to the ground, Slupe said.

"I understand that he or someone that was with him radioed, 'Gun, gun, gun, gun,'" Slupe said. "And of course, by that time it was too late."

In the days since the attempted assassination, the Secret Service has faced an onslaught of questions about how a gunman reached the roof of a building about 400 feet from the rally stage. But state and local law enforcement, which held key responsibilities in securing the event, are in the spotlight as well.

Among the questions for the several investigations now under way: How did the Secret Service coordinate and communicate with local officers before and during the event? And what went so wrong that the former president came within inches of losing his life?

One detail became clearer Monday: The Secret Service said local law enforcement was in charge of securing the building, belonging to American Glass Research, where Crooks was perched.

"While the Secret Service is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of the former president, that particular building that was outside of the perimeter of the event was secured by the local police authorities," Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The service in a later statement it posted Tuesday sought to clarify that it wasn't blaming its local partners for the incident.

The Secret Service generally takes a multitiered approach to securing events. Its own agents take charge in securing the inner circle surrounding the protectee. Local officers assist with crowd control and are often tasked with securing structures outside the security perimeter during events, former agents said.

As part of its defense against longer-range threats, the Secret Service uses counter-sniper teams, typically composed of a shooter and a spotter. In advance of events, the Secret Service routinely visits nearby businesses and buildings, but also relies on local authorities as experts on securing the surroundings.

"They're going to know the alleys, the roadways," Guglielmi said.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Butler Township Police Department were among those that worked with the Secret Service on Saturday to secure the farm show grounds where Trump spoke. The neighboring Beaver County also provided a SWAT team, a spokesman said.

The state police has said it was taking cues from the Secret Service for the rally's security and provided all resources requested by the federal agency.

"We work with them to provide whatever is requested," said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens at a briefing on Sunday. "But they're the lead."

Securing the building used by the gunman wasn't part of the state police department's duties, a spokesman said Monday.

The state police department provided 30 to 40 troopers to help with securing the inside perimeter of the rally, he said.

Eyewitnesses said they spotted the gunman crawling around on the roof of the building armed with a rifle and alerted police.

"Someone's on top of the roof -- look," one person is heard saying in video footage of the minutes before shots rang out. "There he is -- right there."

In an ABC News interview, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said that a "very short period of time" passed between the suspect being spotted and him firing off shots at Trump.

"Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult," she said.

The Secret Service didn't station agents on the top of the building Crooks used because it had a sloped roof and that created a safety risk, Cheatle said.

"The buck stops with me," Cheatle told the network. "I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary."" [1]

1. U.S. News: Shooting Spotlights Role of Local Police. Wolfe, Jan; C. Ryan Barber.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 17 July 2024: A.3. 

JAV naujienos: buvęs aukščiausias Trumpo pareigūnas neteko apsaugos

„VAŠINGTONAS – Bideno administracija beveik metus atsisakė užtikrinti saugumą Robertui O'Brienui, buvusiam patarėjui nacionalinio saugumo klausimais Trumpo Baltuosiuose rūmuose, nepaisant užkulisinio įstatymų leidėjų spaudimo ir to, ką jie apibūdina. kaip nuolatinius grasinimus jo gyvybei.

 

 Atstovų rūmų žvalgybos komiteto pirmininkas respublikonas Mike'as Turneris per pastaruosius metus parašė prezidentui Bidenui du laiškus, prašydamas, kad administracija atkurtų O'Brieno slaptosios tarnybos apsaugos detales, o rugpjūčio 1 d. 2023 m. Turneris taip pat susitiko su Slaptąja tarnyba ir patarėju nacionalinio saugumo klausimais Džeiku Salivanu, tačiau nesėkmingai.

 

 „Tai pavojingas precedentas sukurti, nepratęsti buvusio patarėjo nacionalinio saugumo klausimais apsaugos detalių, kol jo gyvybei kyla aktyvių grėsmių, ypač didėjančios grėsmės aplinkoje“, – sausio 30 d. rašė Turneris. „Ambasadoriui O'Brienui reikia abiejų ir jis nusipelno apsaugos detalės už jo tarnybą šiai šaliai“. Laiškai buvo datuojami 2023 m. birželio 21 d. ir 2024 m. sausio 30 d.

 

 Žinia, kad Bideno administracija atsisakė atkurti O'Brieno saugumo detales, nepaisydama akivaizdžių nuolatinių grėsmių, kyla per kelias dienas po pasikėsinimo į buvusio prezidento gyvybę.

 

 „Manau, kad jų mandatas per platus“, – sakė Jasonas Chaffetzas, buvęs Atstovų Rūmų priežiūros komiteto pirmininkas, vadovavęs agentūros tyrimui. "Jie patiria išteklių stresą? Tada susiaurinkite savo misiją."

 

 Nacionalinio saugumo tarybos ir Valstybės saugumo departamento atstovai spaudai neatsakė į prašymą pakomentuoti.

 

 Grasinimai O'Brienui prasidėjo po to, kai per JAV bepiločio lėktuvo smūgį nužudytas Irano generolas Qassemas Soleimani. O'Brienas ėjo patarėjo nacionalinio saugumo klausimais pareigas, kai Trumpas įsakė smogti.

 

 Irano vyriausybė ir su ja susijusios grupės, tokios kaip Islamo revoliucijos gvardijos korpusas, nuo to laiko atvirai grasino kelių smūgyje dalyvavusių pareigūnų gyvybėms, įskaitant 2023 m. sausio mėn. animacinį vaizdo įrašą, paskelbtą Telegramoje, kuriame rodomos Trumpo, O'Brieno, Marko Milley  kuris tuomet buvo Jungtinio štabo viršininkų pirmininkas, ir kt. nuotraukos.

 

 Trumpui pasitraukus iš pareigų, Bideno administracija iš pradžių nurodė atitinkamoms teisėsaugos institucijoms toliau saugoti tuos asmenis ir kitus, įskaitant O'Brieną. Nors Slaptoji tarnyba buvo atsakinga už O'Brieno detales, kai kuriuos kitus saugojo Valstybės ir Gynybos departamentų saugumo tarnybos. Daugelis buvusių pareigūnų, susidūrusių su potencialiu Irano kerštu, įskaitant Milley, buvusį gynybos sekretorių Marką Esperį ir buvusį valstybės sekretorių Mike'ą Pompeo, vis dar turi jų apsaugą.

 

 Po šeštadienį įvykusio pasikėsinimo į D. Trumpą O'Brienas konservatyviam radijo laidų vedėjui Hugh Hewittui pasakė, kad jis nebeturi apsaugos, nepaisant jo prašymų ją pratęsti.

 

 Slaptosios tarnybos direktorė Kimberly Cheatle išsiuntė jam 60 dienų įspėjimą apie jo apsaugos nutraukimą 2023 m. birželio 2 d., pasak O'Brieno.

 

 „Prieštaravau be jokios naudos“, – sakė O'Brienas, rašoma Hewitto tviteryje. „Laimei, nuo to laiko mus labai palaikė mūsų valstybės ir vietos teisėsaugos pareigūnai, taip pat į pensiją išėję agentai, kuriuos išlaikėme savo lėšomis“, – sakė jis, turėdamas omenyje į pensiją išėjusius Slaptosios tarnybos agentus.

 

 Federalinio tyrimų biuro direktorius Christopheris Wray'us ir jo komanda toliau teikė O'Brienui instruktažus apie jam nuolatinius grasinimus, O'Brienas sakė Hewittui.

 

 Jutos senatorius Mike'as Lee, respublikonas, sakė, kad per kelis pokalbius su aukščiausiais Bideno pareigūnais, įskaitant Sullivaną ir Tėvynės saugumo sekretorių Alejandro Mayorkas, paragino administraciją atkurti O'Brieno apsaugą. Jam buvo pasakyta, kad sprendimas užbaigti O'Brieno apsaugą buvo pagrįstas „įvairiomis aplinkybėmis“, įskaitant žmogiškuosius išteklius, biudžeto apribojimus ir grėsmės pobūdį, interviu „The Wall Street Journal“ sakė Lee.

 

 Lee sakė, kad atmeta šį paaiškinimą ir kad viskas, ką jis matė viešai ir įslaptintoje aplinkoje, rodo, kad O'Brienui vis dar yra „rimta, patikima“ grėsmė.

 

 Irano vyriausybė ir Islamo revoliucinės gvardijos korpusas „iš esmės turi tai, kas prilygsta mirties nuosprendžiui“, viename interviu sakė Lee ir pridūrė, kad kiti buvę pareigūnai, kuriems gali kilti mažesnė grėsmė, vis dar turi apsaugą." [1]

1. U.S. News: Former Top Trump Official Denied Security. Seligman, Lara; Strobel, Warren P.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 17 July 2024: A.3.

U.S. News: Former Top Trump Official Denied Security

"WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration has declined for almost a year to provide security to Robert O'Brien, a former national security adviser in the Trump White House, despite behind-the-scenes pressure from lawmakers and what they describe as ongoing threats against his life.

Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote two letters to President Biden over the past year requesting that the administration reinstate O'Brien's Secret Service protective detail, which was ended with no explanation on Aug. 1, 2023. Turner also met with the Secret Service and national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the matter, to no avail.

"It is a dangerous precedent to set, to not extend a former National Security Advisor's protective detail while there are active threats against his life, especially in a growing threat environment," Turner wrote on Jan. 30. "Ambassador O'Brien both needs and deserves a protective detail for his service to this country." The letters were dated June 21, 2023, and Jan. 30, 2024.

The news that the Biden administration has refused to reinstate O'Brien's security detail despite apparent ongoing threats comes in the midst of rising scrutiny of the Secret Service and concern about adequate protection for senior U.S. officials, days after the attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump.

"I think their mandate is too broad," said Jason Chaffetz, former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who led an investigation into the agency. "They have resource stress? Then narrow their mission."

Spokespeople for the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security didn't respond to a request for comment.

The threats against O'Brien began after Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike. O'Brien was serving as national security adviser when Trump ordered the strike.

The Iranian government and affiliated groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have since made graphic threats on the lives of several officials involved in the strike, including a January 2023 animated video posted on Telegram showing photos of Trump, O'Brien, Mark Milley, who was then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others.

After Trump left office, the Biden administration initially directed the respective law enforcement agencies to continue their protection of those individuals, and others, including O'Brien. While the Secret Service was responsible for O'Brien's detail, some of the others have been protected by the security arms of the Departments of State and Defense. Many of the former officials who faced potential Iranian retaliation, including Milley, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, still have their security details.

Following Saturday's assasination attempt on Trump, O'Brien told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he no longer has a security detail, despite his requests to extend it.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle sent him a 60-day notice of termination of his protection on June 2, 2023, according to O'Brien.

"I objected to no avail," O'Brien said, according to a tweet from Hewitt. "Fortunately, since then, we have had tremendous support from our state and local law enforcement officials as well as retired agents, who we have retained at our own expense," he said, referring to retired Secret Service agents.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and his team have continued to provide O'Brien with briefings on the continuing threats against him, O'Brien told Hewitt.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, said he has urged the administration in several conversations with top Biden officials, including with Sullivan and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, to reinstate O'Brien's security detail. He was told the decision to curtain O'Brien's protection was based on "a wide variety of circumstances," including human resources, budgetary limitations and the nature of the threat, Lee said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Lee said he rejects that explanation, and that everything he has seen publicly and in classified settings shows there is still a "serious, credible" threat against O'Brien.

Iran's government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "have got basically what amounts to a death warrant out against him," Lee said in an interview, adding that other former officials who might face less of a threat still have security." [1]

1. U.S. News: Former Top Trump Official Denied Security. Seligman, Lara; Strobel, Warren P.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 17 July 2024: A.3.