SS Director Cheatle's Statement Has Zero Credibility

Secret Service personnel knew the building to the north was not secured and they did nothing to correct the breach.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle issued a statement in which she asserted the following:

Secret Service personnel on the ground moved quickly during the incident, with our counter sniper team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the safety of former president Donald Trump. 

The “counter sniper team” consisted of the riflemen posted on the two barns (with white roofs) behind the stage. With that in mind, consider the following photograph.

From their vantage point on the barn roofs, the counter snipers could plainly see that there were NO SENTRIES on the building to the north. They could also see the bystanders on the ground to the left of the building, frantically gesturing towards the roof for minutes prior to Crooks reaching the ridge and firing the shots.

The barn roofs are higher than the roof of the building from which Crooks fired. That at least one of the counter-snipers could see him is evidenced by the fact that the counter-sniper ultimately shot Crooks in the head.

There is simply no exculpatory explanation for this incident. Obviously, not a single sentry was posted on the building. Note the higher building just behind and slightly to the left of the building from which Crooks fired. This was a painfully obvious location to post a sentry who could have secured the rooftops and observe the event from a perfect vantage point.

Cheatle has zero credibility. The totality of circumstances indicates that security was deliberately withdrawn from the building, thereby granting a would-be assassin easy access to its rooftop with a clear line of sight to the stage on which Trump spoke.

It will be interesting to see if the local police remain silent or if media outlets like CNN continue to quote unnamed “law enforcement” sources making dubious statements that raise more questions than they answer.

I suspect that local law enforcement officials have been given the strong impression that this is a matter for federal agents, meaning there is nothing to be gained by discussing it with the media.

POSTSCRIPT: Yesterday I saw a number of commentators mention that Director Cheatle had stated in an interview on Tuesday morning that Secret Service chose not to secure the building in question “because it had a sloped roof.” I must humbly confess that I simply did not believe it was possible for her to make such a preposterous statement, so I didn’t even bother to check if it was true. I just assumed it was hearsay fabrication. However, this morning, Dr. McCullough informed me that it’s true. As reported in The Hill:

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an interview that aired Tuesday morning that a sloped roof used by the gunman who attempted an assassination of former President Trump last weekend at a rally had “safety factor” considerations.

“That building in particular has a sloped roof, at its highest point,” Cheatle said in an interview that aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Tuesday morning to the outlet’s Pierre Thomas. “And so, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside.”

At this point, I can only suppose that the Biden administration has long been operating under the assumption that its supporters are so lacking information and intelligence that they will literally believe anything.