The would-be assassin of former president Donald Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks, managed to fly a drone over the Pennsylvania rally site just hours before carrying out his attack.
Law enforcement officials told The Wall Street Journal that Crooks flew a drone on a programmed flight path, enabling him to get aerial footage of the rally site before the shooting.
Officials noted that crooks also may have flown the drone more than once to scope the area.
The fact that Crooks was able to fly his drone in an otherwise secure location beggars belief.
Donald Trump Jr. noted how he “was once prevented flying MY OWN drone off of the beach at Mar-a-Lago by USSS because my father was inside the house.”
The revelation adds to a long list of security lapses from authorities, which almost cost the likely next president of the United States his life.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted the incident was “unacceptable” and noted that the “buck stops” with her.
“The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary,” Cheatle told ABC News.
“It was unacceptable, and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Crooks shot multiple rounds at Trump and rallygoers from a roof outside of the Secret Service’s security perimeter.
Prior to the attack, law enforcement spotted Crooks on the roof, however, an officer retreated when the 20-year-old pivoted his weapon toward him.
Secret Service and FBI confirmed Crooks was identified roughly 50 minutes before his attack.
As we highlighted earlier this week, explosive devices were also found in Crooks’ car.
Investigators told The Wall Street Journal that multiple suspicious packages were found in the shooter’s general location, which prompted bomb squad teams to be dispatched to the area.
Bomb squad teams conducted a search of at least one vehicle on Saturday, while efforts remain underway to find more clues to what the shooter had planned.
