The assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump has raised questions about the actions of the Secret Service and local law enforcement, especially as it relates to the failure to intercept the shooter before he opened fire.
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The details surrounding the incident are being closely analyzed, with many suggesting that if things had been even slightly different, Trump could have lost his life.
Former ATF Deputy Assistant Director Peter Forcelli chimed in on the shooting, explaining why the former president survived despite the failures of the officials who were present at the Pennsylvania rally where the incident occurred.
During an interview on NewsNation’s “Morning in America,” Forcelli explained why, despite having the former president in the crosshairs, suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks failed to land the shot. “The shooter realized that he had been observed. He realized that he didn’t have much time, and he rushed those shots,” Forcelli explained, referring to reports that local police tried to confront Crooks before he opened fire.
This urgency, coupled with Trump’s movements, likely saved the former president’s life. “I think that, coupled with the fact that the former President turned his head, saved the President’s life,” Forcelli noted.
The attempted assassination has raised serious questions about the security measures in place at the rally. Forcelli did not mince words.
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“This was a big failure on the part of the Secret Service to not secure that roof,” he stated.
He added, “How that ladder was able to be erected there, how that building wasn’t secured is a big question that the Secret Service is going to have to answer.”
It was later revealed that the authorities found improvised explosive devices in Crooks’ vehicle. “He had a device made out of ammonia nitrate and fuel oil with projectiles inside of an ammo can,” the former deputy director said.
It is currently unknown how the shooter planned to use the explosive devices.
Forcelli suggested that the Secret Service and law enforcement will be under intense scrutiny following the shooting and hinted that the bureaucratic dysfunction that often plagues inter-agency cooperation could have played a part in the incident.
“The government doesn’t fix a lot of things. I spent 20 years in government. It’s very dysfunctional in many ways, and this is a big way in which it is dysfunctional,” he remarked, pointing to longstanding issues of communication and coordination between federal and local agencies.
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The former deputy director highlighted some of the difficulties involved with inter-agency cooperation.
“A lot of people don’t realize when police officers work with Secret Service or other federal agencies, very often they can’t communicate with each other by radio because there’s no interoperability with the radio systems because of encryption and other things.”
As the investigation continues, the focus will likely be on understanding how Crooks managed to get so close to the former president and how these lapses might be prevented in the future.