Communication breakdown cited in Trump rally shooting
- It was a distance of about 120–140 metres. The assailant was not eliminated earlier because communication between the services failed – says security expert and veteran of the GROM Military Unit, Paweł Mateńczuk "Naval".
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was shot in the ear on Saturday during an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Two people were killed, including the assailant, and two others were seriously injured. According to CNN's geolocation analysis, the former U.S. president was around 120–150 metres away from the would-be assassin.
How did 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks manage to get just over 90 metres from Donald Trump and fire several shots before being shot dead by Secret Service agents? That’s a question American services need to answer. According to the security expert and GROM Military Unit veteran, communication between the services clearly failed in this instance.
With so many participants and representatives from various services securing the event, proper target identification becomes a problem. Legal procedures in the specific American state also come into play, which must be quickly adapted and interpreted, says WP security expert Paweł Mateńczuk, Naval.
agents clearly surprised by shots
As he explains, there were Secret Service agents, Donald Trump's personal bodyguards, FBI agents, and local police officers at the election rally. - In such cases, an Operation Center is created, where each service has its so-called liaison officer. All information flows there, and decisions are made there. A human error resulting from misinterpreting the target could have contributed to the snipers not immediately eliminating the assailant – the veteran of combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan tells us.
The assailant was armed with an AR-15 rifle. Semi-automatic weapons are a common tool of crime for mass shooting perpetrators in the USA. The rifle is small and light and uses 223-calibre bullets. American media reports stated that witnesses saw the 20-year-old man climb and then lie down on the roof with the weapon. Their accounts indicate that the services were informed about this.
Moreover, a video appeared on social media showing the moment of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the reaction of two snipers who were securing the rally from the roof of a nearby building. The video shows that the agents were clearly surprised by the shots.
"There could have been a scuffle between services"
- At such events, services secure individual sectors. There is a division of sectors, and responsibility for their security often, unfortunately, overlaps. If the information that someone is on the roof reached one of the sectors, there could have been a scuffle between services. No one wanted to take responsibility for that particular place with the assailant on the roof. Precious seconds were lost then – says Paweł Mateńczuk "Naval", security expert and veteran of the GROM Military Unit.
He emphasizes that American services should have immediately raised a "red flag" when they saw a 20-year-old man lying on the roof.
- No one lies alone on the roof or acts alone. Worldwide, people work in pairs or even threes. We have an observer who sees what’s happening nearby. He has a wider angle and better visibility. Next to him lies a sniper with a scope and sees the target. And they communicate with each other. If someone told me one person was lying on the roof, the services’ reaction should be immediate – says the former military officer.
He points out that the assailant climbed the roof knowing he would die.
- This is a sniper fight "barrel to barrel." It was a distance of about 120 metres. In this case, weather conditions don’t have as much impact as they do at greater distances. At 100-150 metres, it’s a point-blank shot. The 20-year-old man wanted to kill Trump. He didn’t hit by accident – believes Paweł Mateńczuk "Naval".
