Five questions for Secret Service after Trump shooting

Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a rally in Pennsylvania, leading to a major investigation by the FBI. One person was killed and two others were critically injured in the incident. The Secret Service is now working to understand what happened and how to prevent such incidents in the future. Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, has been called to testify before a committee of the US House of Representatives on July 22.

One of the main questions is how the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to access the roof of a building near the rally. The rooftop was known to be a vulnerability, and it was only 130 meters from Trump. According to NBC News, someone should have been on the roof to secure it. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the line of sight from the rooftop to Trump's podium should have been blocked.

A witness told the BBC that he saw a man with a rifle on the roof minutes before the shots were fired. He and others alerted the police, but the gunman continued moving around for several minutes before firing. The FBI admitted it was surprising that the attacker was able to open fire. The county sheriff confirmed that a local police officer spotted Crooks but was unable to stop him in time. Crooks was already on the radar of law enforcement officials because he was acting suspiciously near the event.

Another question is whether the Secret Service relied too much on local police. The gunman fired from an area patrolled by local and state officers, not the Secret Service. A former Secret Service agent said that relying on local law enforcement only works if there is a clear plan for what to do when a threat is spotted. The county sheriff admitted there was a failure but said no single party was to blame.

There are also concerns about whether the event was properly resourced. A former chair of the House Oversight Committee suggested that the Secret Service was spread too thin, and local police might not have been adequately trained to secure an event like the rally. The Secret Service denied that they had refused a request from Trump's team to increase staffing.

Finally, there is the question of whether Trump was taken off stage quickly enough. The agents who protected Trump have been praised, but some believe they should have moved him faster. Footage shows the agents forming a shield around Trump immediately after the gunshots, but then pausing as Trump asked to gather his shoes. A Secret Service veteran said he would not have waited and would have taken Trump away immediately.