Secret Service Misses the Assassin in Plain Sight

"See something, say something." After the 9/11 disaster, that phrase served as a terse marching order for alert American citizens willing to help stop terror attacks on U.S. soil.

"See something, say something" is superb national security advice. 9/11 demonstrated America is under attack. Every citizen can contribute to the defense effort.

On Saturday, July 13, several alert citizens attending a presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, saw a young man lurking near a building adjacent to the fairground where presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump intended to deliver a speech. The young man was later seen on the building's roof.

Local and Global Security Point 1: Per 9/11, concerned citizens on the ground provided The See. Several informed law enforcement officers. Hence Point 2: Citizens provided The Say.

Good citizens also provide evidence. I've seen perhaps 10 different clips from phone videos of the man on the roof. One video may have been shot as early as 5:45 p.m. EDT, but that's not clear.

This is: The videos are damning glimpses of a suspicious man on the roof of a building authorities now report is 410 feet from the podium where Trump was scheduled to speak.

WPXI Channel 11 Pittsburgh (NBC TV affiliate) now has an online timeline for Thomas Matthew Crooks' attempted assassination of Trump. The timeline documents the crowd's See and Say. Trump took the podium at 6:03 p.m. EDT and began speaking. At 6:09 p.m., many citizens (scores?) in the audience began shouting to law enforcement personnel, pointing to the man on the roof.

At 6:11 pm, Crooks opened fire.

Point 3: The citizens provided time enough for alert Secret Service and local law enforcement personnel to act to stop the shooter.

But they didn't. Not before Crooks wounded Trump, critically wounded rally attendees James Copenhaver and David Dutch, and killed Corey Comperatore, a fireman. Mr. Comperatore may not have been Crooks' target, but his murder makes Crooks a successful assassin.

Secret Service snipers then killed Crooks.

Secret Service snipers are elite American paramilitary personnel. But their shots were too late.

The Secret Service agents around Trump protected him with their bodies. They did their duty.

Yet the evidence for Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security operational laxity and bureaucratic incompetence is mounting, to the point intentional neglect by senior DHS officials becomes a malign but plausible explanation. I'm not pushing that, but the possibility must be considered and investigated.

DHS directs the Secret Service. The Secret Service relies on the FBI and local law enforcement agencies for assistance in preparing for a visit by the president, vice president, speaker of the House and other senior officials as assigned. In a presidential campaign, bona fide major candidates receive Secret Service protection. (Which is why DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' refusal to provide Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with protection was jaw-droppingly stupid. I understand RFK Jr. now has protection. He should have had it starting Jan. 1.)

My point: Presidential protection within the U.S. is a multi-jurisdictional effort, one requiring federal-state-local cooperation.

I suspect the imperious Mayorkas has made it a federal-state-local struggle, by neglect if not by intention.

An old proverb speaks to the difficulty of finding the rare and concealed amid the normal and visibly numerous: finding the needle in the haystack. Nine years ago, after two terrorists murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, California, I wrote a column about the difficulty of finding the assassin's dagger in the haystack.

A terrorist can select from a range of targets "distributed" throughout an area. They can attack geographically dispersed targets, a hospital in Nevada or a bus going to Yankee Stadium. The defense cannot protect everything.

But presidents and presidential candidates are known, specific targets. Their movements are planned and protected -- or should be protected.

Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle failed to execute fundamental duties. They should resign immediately.

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To find out more about Austin Bay and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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