Video: Bystander Outside Trump Rally Says He and Others Tried to Warn Police About Man with Rifle on Neighboring Rooftop for 6-7 Minutes, But Police Did Nothing
Moments before shots were fired at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally, witnesses reported seeing the shooter climbing to the roof of a nearby building. People in the area frantically tried to alert the police to the presence of the gunman, who was visibly carrying a rifle.
One witness, Greg Smith, told BBC News that he saw the suspected shooter crawling on top of a building just outside the event. Smith and others were pointing out the gunman to the police, but their warnings seemed to go unheeded.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage’… the next thing you know, five shots ring out,” Smith recounted.
Smith, who was listening from outside the rally, noticed the gunman about five minutes into Trump’s speech.
“We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away,” he said. “He had a rifle; we could clearly see a rifle.”
Smith and others tried to get the attention of the authorities for several minutes.
“We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we’re, like, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’… and the police did not know what was going on.”
Smith suggested that the police likely could not see the gunman due to the slope of the roof.
“Why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs here?” he asked. “This is not a big place. (It’s a) security failure, 100% security failure.”
Video below:
New video shows the moments before shots were fired, with witnesses screaming that a man has a gun, followed by rapid gunfire breaking out while Donald Trump speaking during his Rally
New video shows the moments before shots were fired, with witnesses screaming that a man has a gun, followed by rapid gunfire breaking out while Donald Trump speaking during his Rally pic.twitter.com/EYo1UTHB7K
— Amit Shah (Parody) (@Motabhai012) July 14, 2024
The incident has raised serious questions about the security measures in place at the rally and the effectiveness of the response by law enforcement.
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