07/14/2024 – 19:19
The measure comes after questions were raised about the Secret Service, which only detained the shooter after the first shots were fired. “Please: don’t jump to conclusions. Let the FBI do its job,” the Democrat asked. US President Joe Biden ordered an independent review of the FBI’s security procedures on Sunday (14/07) after his opponent and White House candidate, Donald Trump, was the target of an attack the day before during a rally in Pennsylvania.
As a former president, Trump is entitled to lifetime Secret Service protection. He also received extra protection as the presumptive Republican nominee, and his candidacy will only be officially announced on Monday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which Trump has already announced he will attend.
Biden also said he had ordered the FBI to review all security arrangements planned for the convention.
Shooter was 150 meters away from Trump
After being grazed in the ear by a bullet, Trump was surrounded by Security Service agents in a matter of seconds, who took him to the ground to protect him. After checking his condition and getting him back on his feet, the agents removed him from the stage and escorted him to a vehicle.
“I was struck by a bullet that pierced the top of my right ear,” the Republican wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It is incredible that such an act could occur in our country,” he added.
In an interview with the BBC, a witness said he saw the shooter before the security forces and that the police ignored the warnings. The man, armed with a rifle, was positioned on a rooftop less than 150 meters from the platform where Trump was speaking and is said to have fired several shots before being neutralized by the security forces.
Now, the Secret Service is investigating how the 20-year-old shooter managed to get so close to Trump.
An FBI representative, Kevin Rojek, said Saturday it was “surprising” that a gunman was able to fire at the podium before being killed.
Agents speaking on condition of anonymity told the AP news agency that there were sniper and counterattack teams at the event site.
Biden urges Americans not to indulge in speculation
The US president asked Americans not to indulge in speculation about the shooter’s motives, and assured that the FBI is working to conclude the investigation as quickly as possible.
“I ask everyone, everyone, please: do not jump to conclusions about the motives or affiliation [política do atirador]. Let the FBI and partner agencies do their job,” Biden said.
The Democrat stressed that the attack on Trump, which also left one supporter dead and two others seriously injured, is “contrary to everything we stand for as a country.” “There is no place for this kind of violence in America, or for any violence whatsoever.”
Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office at the White House at 8 p.m. Sunday (9 p.m. ET). Earlier, he said he and First Lady Jill Biden were praying for the victim who died at the rally and were truly grateful that Trump “is safe and recovering.”
Politicians in Congress push for investigation
Republican Representative Mark E. Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday containing a series of questions about the shooting at Trump’s rally and demanding information about Secret Service protection of the former president.
“The seriousness of this security breach and the terrifying moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Green wrote in the letter.
The congressman argues that there are serious questions about how the “shooter was able to access a rooftop within range and direct line of sight of where President Trump was speaking.”
Green also cited reports that the Secret Service had refused Trump campaign requests for additional security — a Secret Service spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, said Sunday that the allegations were “absolutely false” and that the agency had deployed additional resources and technology as campaign travel intensified.
The committee headed by Green demands that Mayorkas hand over information and documents showing Trump’s security plan for the day of the attack, as well as any adjustments, how crowd control was carried out on the day of the rally and what the FBI briefing was like after the shooting.
Also a Republican, Representative Mike Turner of Ohio, questioned in an interview with CNN “how is it possible that someone can climb onto a roof?” […]with a gun, and attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump.” “It’s unthinkable, inconceivable. We need to know: Is this a failure of protocol? Is this a resource issue? Or is this just a failure of those who were on the scene that day?”
“The blame lies somewhere in the American psyche”
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the area where Trump spoke and was sitting behind the former president when the attack occurred, urged his Republican colleagues to let law enforcement do their job and not politicize the case.
Kelly, who brought his wife and grandchildren to the event, told the AP he was “perplexed about how and what happened to America,” and urged Americans to reflect on how each of them can make a difference in bringing more civility to political discourse.
“I just wish people would… tone it down,” he said. “Stop trying to find, to point the blame. The blame is somewhere in the psyche of America.”
ra (AP, Reuters)
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