A CNN reporter grilled a Secret Service spokesperson following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend, noting that the incident “raises a lot of questions” about the agency’s security procedures.
According to reports, CNN crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz repeatedly pressed agency officials but did not receive satisfactory answers, leading him to demand more transparency for the American people.
In a rare news conference, the agency stated that it had been preparing for a year to secure this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. However, they did not mention the bullet that grazed former President Trump’s ear or the one that killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore.
After Agent Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service agent in charge of coordinating security at the Republican National Convention, opened up the floor for questions, Prokupecz demanded to know why the agency had gone radio silent following the attack in Butler, Pa., on Saturday.
Again, the agent referred Prokupecz to her superiors, however.
The Secret Service is dealing with intense scrutiny after the attempted assassination, and now it has been learned that warning signs were missed before the attack.
Some witnesses claimed that they alerted authorities to a man climbing on the roof before the shooting.
“How could you have somebody on the rooftop?” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was shot by a would-be assassin and far-left Bernie Sanders supporter in 2017 during a practice session ahead of the annual congressional softball game. “There are reports that people watched him climb up the roof and even alerted authorities, and we’re going to be looking into that.”
“I mean, we’re going to have hearings on this, you know, how could you have somebody on the rooftop? There are reports that people watched him climb up the roof and even alerted authorities, and we’re going to be looking into that. How could that happen with all the authorities around that they miss something so clear that the shooter was able to get that kind of line of sight just 150 yards away from the stage?” he told Fox News on Saturday.