Members of a Pennsylvania Swat team who were assigned to protect Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, told ABC News that they had no face-to-face briefing with Secret Service agents before the deadly shooting at Trump’s rally.
Jason Woods, the lead sharpshooter for the Beaver County, Pennsylvania Swat team, stated, “We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened.”
Woods continued, “I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened.”
“We had no communication,” added Woods.
Watch them here:
WOAH.
The local SWAT team from Butler, PA claims they had NO COMMS with Secret Service prior to the shooting.
They were supposed to meet them upon arrival and it never happened.
Something smells rotten.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) July 28, 2024
Check out what The Guardian reported:
Local police officers on a special tactical team who were assigned to help protect Donald Trump on the day the former president was wounded during a 13 July assassination attempt in Butler county, Pennsylvania, have said they had no contact with Secret Service agents before the gunman opened fire.
“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” Jason Woods, lead sharpshooter on the Swat team in nearby Beaver county, Pennsylvania, told ABC News.
Woods said that initial failure in planning and communications was likely the start of errors that would lead to the 20-year-old gunman killing one spectator, injuring two others and – according to the FBI – striking the tip of one of Trump’s ears.
“I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened,” Woods told the outlet. “We had no communication.”
Separately, members of Trump’s Secret Service detail and his top advisers have questioned why they were not told that local police assigned to guard the outer perimeter of the fairgrounds on 13 July had spotted a suspicious person who turned out to be the would-be assassin.
🚨BREAKING: Butler, PA SWAT team states they had no communication with the Secret Service prior to the shooting. SWAT indicated there was a scheduled meeting with the sniper team that never took place. pic.twitter.com/1wpkT6heTW
— Dominic Michael Tripi (@DMichaelTripi) July 28, 2024
Here’s what ABC News reported:
The local SWAT team assigned to help protect former President Donald Trump on July 13 had not had any contact with the Secret Service agents in charge of security before a would-be assassin opened fire, those officers told ABC News.
It was a critical part of the planning and communications failures that ended with a gunman killing one man, critically injuring two more and wounding Trump as he delivered a speech just days before accepting the Republican presidential nomination.
“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” said Jason Woods, lead sharpshooter on the SWAT team in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
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