Jul 17, 2024 - 17:29
By cnbc.com

Trump shooting: Secret Service changes story on local SWAT team position

A U.S. Secret Service official said a Pennsylvania police SWAT team was in another building than the one whose roof was used Saturday by Thomas Crooks to shoot at former President Donald Trump.
The new account contradicts a prior claim by Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle that Crooks was on top of the building containing the SWAT team near Trump's campaign rally in Butler.
The disclosure follows news that the Secret Service had increased security for Trump after being told of a plot by Iran to kill him.

A U.S. Secret Service official on Wednesday said that a local Pennsylvania police SWAT team was actually in another building than the one whose roof was used by a would-be assassin to shoot at former President Donald Trump on Saturday.

The Secret Service official's new account contradicts a prior claim by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Crooks, was on top of the building containing the SWAT team near Trump's campaign rally in the town of Butler.

The contradiction is certain to increase already sharp questions about whether the Secret Service acted appropriately in arranging security for the rally, which ended when Crooks fatally shot one attendee and wounded two others as he narrowly missed killing the Republican presidential nominee Trump.

The disclosure comes a day after news that the Secret Service before Saturday's shooting boosted security for Trump when it was told of a plot to kill him by Iran's government.