PITTSBURGH — It’s a story that rocked the nation. How did one man get up on this roof armed even after local law enforcement snapped these photos of him nearly an hour before he fired at former President Donald Trump? Almost three months later, there are still not a lot of answers.
“Looking back on that, you think you were adequately prepared for what it is that ultimately happened?” said Congressman Mike Kelly.
“With the information that we had I believe that we did the very best that we can,” said Drew Blasko who’s a patrolman with Butler Township Police Department.
“There was no guidance as far as where they wanted us to be,” said Edward Lenz who’s a commander for Butler County ESU.
For weeks, this joint task force has dived into testimony from both the Secret Service and local law enforcement on the preparations of security on that July day and the aftermath.
The task force believes the three major security issues fell on the Secret Service who did not have an adequate plan, didn’t manage access to the rally site and had issues with security communications.
“I do not believe they could hear us at all. They did not have a radio from us, and we did not have a radio from them,” Lenz said.
Channel 11 saw that in the aftermath as we broke the news of pictures being sent back to the command of Thomas Crooks. The Beaver County ESU member sent it to the Butler ESU over the radio who then had to radio to command as the local teams had no direct access to the Secret Service.
“The burning question is always going to be with me. There was knowledge of a suspicious person ahead of time on that roof, the key was to get the former President of the United States off the podium,” Kelly said.
The answer to that question may never come, but the task force does plan to have a full report released on its findings in December. At this point, members are now also adding elements of the second assassination attempt into their investigation, too.
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