ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
We're learning more details today about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday, and the new information raises questions about the Secret Service's apparent decision to allow Trump to take the stage. NPR's Martin Kaste is in Butler County, Pa., where the shooting took place. Hi, Martin.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.
SHAPIRO: What more can you tell us about how the gunman was allowed to get onto that rooftop that had a view of the stage?
KASTE: Well, I'd say we're closer to an answer. Initially, the Secret Service was pointing out that that building was outside their perimeter and was the responsibility of local law enforcement. And the inference there was somehow the local law enforcement maybe had dropped the ball, but officials here in Butler had been pushing back.
Just yesterday, the township manager put out a statement saying Butler officers were never assigned to those buildings, that they were assigned to traffic duty nearby. And yet, when the alert went out about a suspicious male around those buildings, those police officers, quote, "broke free from traffic duty and went searching for him," and that one of them tried to climb up onto the roof after him. The gunman then pointed his rifle at the officer, according to the statement, and he then had to let go of the edge of the roof and fell to the ground. And they say that's when the gunman started firing into the rally.
SHAPIRO: Wow. Does that mean local law enforcement is effectively off the hook?
KASTE: Well, not necessarily. That's just the Butler Township police. That's a small department. We don't know for sure yet what exactly the assignments were for the sheriff's department or state police in those buildings. But ultimately, it is the Secret Service that's responsible for the protection plan here and for making sure that such a dangerous rooftop vantage point is secured.
SHAPIRO: And the Secret Service, along with the FBI, yesterday briefed members of Congress about the assassination attempt. What information has come out of that briefing?
KASTE: Well, I think the biggest revelation is confirmation that there was prior warning about the 20-year-old man who ultimately shot Trump. Right after that private briefing yesterday, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn posted on X, quote, "I am appalled to learn that the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage," unquote. And from what we've been able to piece together, the gunman was spotted, but not with a visible gun, well before Trump started speaking. Agents then lost sight of him. Trump was allowed to go onstage.
And when members of the public spotted the man on the roof with the rifle, an alert was raised, and yet Trump was allowed to remain on stage. And I think that's going to be the big question going forward. How and why was the decision made not to rush Trump off the stage as soon as a threat had been reported?
SHAPIRO: Absolutely. Now, the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper. What has the investigation into Crooks found so far?
KASTE: NPR's Ryan Lucas has learned from someone who was part of that same congressional briefing yesterday that the FBI has searched Crooks' phones - apparently, he had two - as well as a laptop. And they briefed members of Congress that he had saved images of President Biden, former President Donald Trump, even Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. He'd searched for dates of Trump's speaking events, as well as the Democratic National Convention. They say they found no signs of any strong political ideology or foreign connections, but they say he did search for the term major depressive disorder.
SHAPIRO: Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle ultimately oversees the team responsible for protecting Trump. When is she expected to testify about this?
KASTE: Yeah. She's been subpoenaed to appear before a House panel on Monday. Several Republicans have been already asking - or calling for her to resign. So this fight and this investigation pretty much moved now from Butler to Washington.
SHAPIRO: You've been reporting these last couple of days in this small town outside of Pittsburgh where the shooting took place, Butler, Pa. What's it like there right now?
KASTE: Well, this is a semirural area, sort of a patchwork of townships in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania. It's not the kind of place where they're used to being in the limelight. Local law enforcement officials here have told me that they felt absolutely slammed not just by media requests from international news, but also by the pressures of being caught up in the middle of a Washington-style blame game.
At first, they were content to let the investigation run its course, they said. But they quickly realized that they sort of needed to shift to try to get their version of events out ahead of things. So that's what we've been seeing over the last few days.
SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Martin Kaste. Thanks for your reporting.
KASTE: You're welcome. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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