Following Monday, the head of the Secret Service is slated to testify before Congress regarding the murder attempt on Donald Trump.
One question that investigators are trying to answer is: How did the assailant gain unimpeded sight of the former president?
After a gunman was able to open fire on Donald Trump, the US Secret Service swore on Monday to cooperate with an independent investigation that will determine if there was a security breach.
The 78-year-old ex-president was shot in the ear and survived the assassination attempt at a campaign event in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Kimberly Cheatle, the operation’s director, said the Secret Service is working with all involved federal, state, and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how an incident like this can never happen again.
Many shots were heard while Trump was making his remarks at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Secret Service agents flocked to the stage, encircled him, and hurried him to a nearby car while he clenched his ear, blood dripping across his cheek.
Two spectators were seriously hurt, and a Trump supporter in the stands was killed.
Newly surfaced footage confirms witness accounts that they shouted for help, and a police officer physically confronted the gunman as he lay on the roof, getting ready to fire, but he backed away.
Citing a study of video recordings from the location of the incident, gunfire targeting Trump rang out 86 seconds after the first audible attempts to notify the police.
President Trump said on Monday that he feels safe with the Secret Service, but he left it as an open question as to whether or not the agency should have been more prepared for the mass shooting at his event.
As part of their site “sweep,” agents would have looked for potential sniper positions. Since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963, it has been one of the most notorious dangers to the safety of the president.
