Butler DA Richard Goldinger says local snipers weren't tasked with monitoring roof before Trump got shot

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA: The district attorney for Butler County, Pennsylvania, told Fox News on Wednesday, July 31, that the rooftop where a gunman attempted to kill former president Donald Trump was not under the watchful eye of neighborhood snipers.

DA Richard Goldinger is the latest official to challenge acting US Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe's testimony at a Senate hearing on the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The snipers were assigned to a window with a different vantage point

During the July 13 rally, Richard Goldinger, who oversaw local snipers, claimed that their assigned window offered a different perspective than the one Ronald Rowe mentioned in his testimony on Tuesday.

Goldinger said the local snipers were not assigned to watch the roof of the AGR building, where Thomas Matthew Crooks perched and opened fire.

"The snipers from the Butler and Beaver ESU teams were posted in the second floor of the building adjacent to where the shooter was located, were posted in the two windows toward the end of the building," Goldinger said. "From their post and vantage point, they were unable to see the shooter on the roof of the other building." 

"They were not posted at a location that would overlook the roof," he continued. "Monitoring that roof was not their assignment."

USSS Chief Ronald Rowe appeared to place blame on local law enforcement in his testimony

Ronald Rowe blamed local law enforcement in his Tuesday testimony for overlooking Donald Trump's shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks on the roof.

Using site exhibits as support, he indicated that local snipers had a superior view of Crooks' shooting position than did Secret Service snipers.

"I will not, and I cannot understand why there was not better coverage or at least someone looking at that roofline when that's where they were posted," Rowe said.

A Secret Service spokesperson pointed back at Ronald Rowe's testimony

A spokesman for the US Secret Service highlighted Ronald Rowe's testimony in response to Richard Goldinger's remarks, stating that the organization worked with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), which served as the location's "tactical lead."

Beaver County Emergency Services Unit Commander Patrick Young stated to Fox News on Tuesday that Butler County ESU, which he believed to have direction from the Secret Service, directed his unit where to go. Crooks skidded onto the two snipers inside the AGR building, one from the Butler County ESU and the other from the Beaver County ESU.

"They were in place by Butler County ESU, which I assume was with the approval of Secret Service. Their assignments that day (were) to be clearly defined and in no uncertain terms," Young said.

"Their areas included the entry control point, the area before and after the magneton monitor and then the area in front of the stage. Those are all within the interior and secure perimeter as defined by the Secret Service. That was their locations … and their priority," he added.

A planned face-to-face briefing with US Secret Service agents never took place after Donald Trump's shooting

Beaver County ESU sharpshooter Jason Woods previously said that a planned face-to-face briefing with Secret Service agents "never happened." "I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened," he told ABC News. "We had no communication."

That day, at 5.34 pm, according to Young, one of his officers noticed Crooks using a rangefinder and proceeded to check into the "sniper text group" to obtain a photo.

In addition, he said that the Secret Service had previously discussed not texting each other, but he was unable to find an alternative method of sharing pictures over the radio.

The Beaver County sniper eventually observed Crooks grab a backpack and walk out from behind the building's edge.

After interacting with the patrol and stating that the suspicious individual was around back, the sniper headed to the first floor to look for Crooks. He then went back to his position. Meanwhile, the Butler sniper persisted at the window, according to Young.

Donald Trump's advisors thought that the sounds of gunshots were fireworks

Donald Trump's top advisors and members of his Secret Service detail have questioned why they were not informed that local police had seen a suspicious person who turned out to be a would-be assassin.

According to the Washington Post, Trump's advisors mistook the gunfire for fireworks when they heard it coming from a big white tent behind the stage. 

"Nobody mentioned it. Nobody said there was a problem," the former president said in an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters. "They could’ve said, ‘Let’s wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, five minutes,’ something. Nobody said — I think that was a mistake."

Internet says former USSS Chief Kimberly Cheatle got 'scapegoated' over Donald Trump's shooting

Netizens lashed out at the authorities for not taking up the onus of the harrowing incident and instead busy blaming each other.

One X user said, "Government employees want no accountability but want to keep their job and be respected."

Another tweeted, "Point blame somewhere else… not surprised."

"Look at that mess. Can't even get a clear story out of these local authorities. I mean, come on, what's the real deal? They're saying it wasn't some local snipers, but who was it then? Some outside agitator trying to take out our great president? Give me a break," remarked one user.

"Kim Cheatle was scapegoated but needed to go. Ron Rowe was operationally in charge of protective services and also denied requested additional resources for Trump campaign. Time for him to go too," penned someone else.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.