Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle keeps making stupid comments about sloping roofs.
Suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto an unguarded roof at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and fired several shots at former President Donald Trump, one of whom struck Trump in the ear, and three other rally-goers were shot, one of whom died.
Why was the roof, which Crooks could easily have shot from, left unlocked even though it was occupied? Cheatle argued that it was because it was slightly tilted after the shot.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof on the highest part of the building, so, you know, for safety reasons, you don’t want people on a sloped roof, so the decision was made to protect the building from the inside,” Cheatle told ABC News.
For now, she seems intent on circling the issue.
Kimberly Cheatle doesn’t give a definitive answer about pitched roofs.
Cheatle testified before a congressional committee on Monday to explain how the Trump shooting happened, and you’d think she’d have a solid answer for the pitched roof situation. But you’d be wrong. She failed.
“I should have been more clear in that interview when I talked about staffing. All I can say is that there were plans to do surveillance and we were still working out the responsibility and who would do the surveillance. But the Secret Service in general — and I’m not saying this incident specifically — when they do surveillance, whether it’s countersniper or other technology, they prefer sterile rooftops,” Cheatle said when asked point-blank by Rep. James Comer if it was “normal” not to staff sloped roofs.
Did you get it all? Instead of answering the question and honestly acknowledging that the pitched roof claim is outrageous, she dodged the question.
Watch the moment in the video below and let us know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com
That’s why all the information needs to be made public. She doesn’t answer a very simple question about roofs and slope. In case some of you missed it, I spoke to three former Tier One operators about whether sloped roofs are safe, like roofs that support countersniper teams. All three said the Secret Service’s insistence that people shouldn’t be on sloped roofs is nonsense.
“No, that’s ridiculous. Of course you can. It might be a little harder, but always put it as high on the ground as possible. We call it a non-standard firing position. There are ways to set it up on anything: a helicopter, a sloped roof, hell even a tree if necessary,” former SEAL Team Six sniper Chris Fettes told me in response to Cheatle’s sloped roof claim.
The USSS Chief should honestly admit that her original comments made no sense and were 100% wrong. Instead, she chooses to provide the public with a string of words that do no good.
The man who shot Donald Trump was able to get onto a rooftop with a good view. (Photo: Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
What do you think about the Secret Service’s claims and failure to tilt the roof when Trump was shot? Let us know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
