Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill former United States President Donald Trump during his rally on Saturday, was allegedly identified as “suspicious” by law enforcement more than an hour before the shooting, Fox News reported. “He was identified as a character of suspicion because [he had] a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred,” Senator John Barrasso told the news agency after a briefing between Senate lawmakers and the Secret Service. “So, you would think over the course of that hour, you shouldn’t lose sight of the individual. Somebody ought to be following up on those sorts of things. No evidence of that happening at all,” Barrasso added. A previous report claimed that Crooks was seen on top of the rooftop from which he opened fire on Trump, half an hour before his assassination attempt.
Johnson to seek resignation of Secret Service head
House Speaker Mike Johnson (pictured) told Fox News on Wednesday that he will seek the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in response to the attempted assassination of ex-United States President Donald Trump. Trump, who had Secret Service protection, was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania and one rally attendee was killed at the event. Johnson said that what happened was “inexcusable” and that he would assemble a task force to investigate Trump’s security at the event. Earlier, Cheatle rejected the possibility of stepping down but insisted the Secret Service needs to take measures to ensure something similar does not happen again. Meanwhile, Trump’s son Donald Jr. claimed there must have been “a serious breach of something” that allowed the shooter to climb onto a roof with a gun amid such security presence.