FBI investigating extremist and violent posts believed to be from Trump shooter

The acting director of the Secret Service said he cannot defend why the roof the shooter used in an attempt to assassinate former President Trump was not better secured. During a Senate hearing on the incident, Acting Director Ronald Rowe said he has lost sleep over multiple failures that took place that day. 

Rowe released new pictures that show the view local law enforcement had from their post. The image also show the view of the U.S. Secret Service sniper who neutralized the shooter. 

“I could not, and I will not, and I cannot understand why there was not better coverage, or at least somebody looking at that roofline when that’s where they were posted,” Rowe told senators.

Rowe appeared to place part of the blame on local law enforcement, which senators pushed back on. 

“The person in charge of the entire operation is the Secret Service, not the local police,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said. 

“You’re correct, sir, this is a failure of the Secret Service,” Rowe conceded. 

Rowe also testified that the agency’s counter-drone platform was not working for much of the day due to connectivity issues. He believes had it been operational, agents may have been able to identify the shooter and prevent the shooting. From now on, the Secret Service will use a dedicated network, rather than relying on a local network. 

“That has cost me a lot of sleep because of the eventual outcome of the assailant. That what if we geolocated him because that counter UAS platform had been up,” Rowe said. “It is something that I have struggled with to understand, and I have no, I have no explanation for it.”

Rowe announced new operational procedures in the wake of the assassination attempt. The procedures include expanding the use of unmanned aerial systems, or small drones flying over events, and the use of the maximum personnel requested to secure protective sites. 

In a hearing filled with revelations, the deputy director of the FBI described newly discovered social media posts believed to be from the shooter that date back to 2019 and 2020.

Investigators are currently combing through more than 700 comments that share extremist views and talk of political violence. 

“Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate said. 

Despite the answers and admissions of failure, senators were not satisfied with some of the explanations they received.

For instance, a local sniper saw the shooter using a rangefinder before the assassination attempt, took pictures of him and sent it up the chain of command. 

“What is the purpose of a range finder? And once this assassin was identified as using a rangefinder, wasn’t that proof positive that he was a dangerous individual?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked. 

“I believe it was, it was a recreation or sports related I thought I had read that it was a golf range finder, nonetheless, it still would have provided him the ability to provide the distance that he was away from his intended target,” Rowe said.

“Wasn’t that enough? As far as raising suspicion,” Durbin pressed. 

“Yes, I think he was identified as being suspicious by local law enforcement and nothing happened,” Rowe replied. 

Senators on both sides of the aisle said more people need to be held accountable and lose their jobs for the failures that day. The acting director said he wants to take his time and avoid making a rush to judgment about anyone involved.