Unreleased police radio transmissions surrounding the sighting of the would-be assassin of Donald Trump revealed additional errors on the part of the Secret Service, a new report claimed.
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt that was carried out by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who entered the Trump rally with a rangefinder and was seen lurking outside the security perimeter almost an hour before shots were fired, criticism of the agency continued to build.
Despite the fact that the 20-year-old guy, who was killed by law enforcement counter snipers, was identified as a suspicious individual upon entering the event in Butler County, Pennsylvania, he was able to scale a neighboring structure and fire an AR-15-style rifle, narrowly missing the former president and killing one of the attendees.
It has now been revealed that the security agents "lost sight of him" soon before the shooting began, according to a police radio communication that has not yet been made public, RadarOnline reported.
Over the course of the protest, which took place on July 13, at approximately 5:42 p.m., a local counter sniper made an attempt to transmit a vital message to secret service operatives who were located within a mobile communications hub via police radio.
"Just an FYI, we had a younger white male, long hair, lurking around the AGR building. He was viewed with a range finder sighting the stage. … We lost sight of him,” the counter sniper said, as per a time-stamped transcript of the radio communication.
Unfortunately, the message was not received by any member of the secret service due to the fact that they were not present within the mobile communications hub. Instead, undercover officers from the Secret Service were stationed at a separate mobile command post with the Pennsylvania State Police around 300 yards away.
Additionally, there was no open communication channel between the two trailers throughout the entire process. A local commander within the hub that received the shocking message from the counter sniper was required to use his cell phone to call a state trooper and tell them of the important message, according to two officials who disclosed the information.
According to The Washington Post, the local police conducted a search for Crooks for the subsequent 29 minutes. This important lapse of time was directly impacted by the fact that there was no open communication with the secret service.
Twenty minutes had passed after Crooks had been initially reported for carrying a rangefinder, which is a device that is typically utilized in long-range shooting. It was an officer who misplaced his location when he was seen roaming around the area of the "AGR building"; as a result, the police were searching on the wrong side of the building.
In the end, Crooks was successful in climbing up onto the rooftop of the building. At 6:11 o'clock in the evening, he opened fire on Trump when he was on stage addressing the audience.
As a result of the confused communication connection, the secret service personnel who were positioned closest to the Republican nominee were completely taken aback by the gunfire that Crooks fired.
On three separate occasions, it was discovered that the officer in charge of the mobile command post was required to utilize his own personal cell phone in order to communicate confidential information to the secret service. In one occasion, the local police discovered Crooks armed with a firearm hanging from the ceiling of the building.
Additionally, the secret service admitted that they did not receive the message, despite the fact that radio transmission transcripts demonstrated that the message was transmitted thirty seconds prior to the would-be assassin opening fire.
