The search for answers continues after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Many questions remain unanswered about how the gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, managed to get access to a nearby roof where he opened fire.
WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green shared the latest information with WTOP’s John Aaron and John Domen on Monday morning.
Listen to the full interview or read the transcript below. This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity.
John Domen: J.J., good morning. This is going to be a long answer, can you tell us more on the security failures up there in Pennsylvania?
J.J. Green: Good morning to both of you and everyone. Actually, it won’t be such a long answer. You had one clever individual who came up with a plan, executed that plan, killed a rally spectator, missed killing a former president by the narrowest of margins, and wounded two other people because that individual managed to slip into a scene that, frankly, all of the people that were there to deliver security, were not able to cover. That’s the crux of the whole matter. And this moving forward, I think, is going to guide the thinking of security officials, whether it’s Secret Service, law enforcement, local, regional, state, in cases involving presidents, former presidents, high-ranking officials and perhaps even lower level folks on a daily basis across the country.
Read more
- Read the latest updates
- Authorities hunt for clues, but motive of man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump remains elusive
- What we know about the 20-year-old suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump
John Aaron: Former President Trump is, of course, defiant. He’s going on with the Republican National Convention, which is going to be getting underway. How does this change convention security, J. J.?
J.J. Green: Convention security was great already, just knowing what they do on a daily basis and every four years to prepare for this. What they’re doing, I’m being told, is they’re closing up some gaps or tightening up some things. They’re making sure that their communication schemes work, that the people that are involved in the process, understand what’s happening. And they’re using this to their advantage to prevent something worse from happening again. But security is being tightened up and checked out. And I think, based on what I’ve heard, they’ll be OK.
John Domen: At this point, it appears that this was one of those lone wolf attacks, which is the term that’s often used by federal authorities when they talking about these sorts of things. And it’s something that they’ve spent a lot of years now sort of warning about and saying that’s among their biggest concerns. How difficult are such attacks just to stop and get ahead of?
J.J. Green: Well, the reality here, John, as you said, we’ve been warned about stuff like this for years. The problem is, we don’t listen. And that’s not just something that is reserved for these warnings, which people tend to roll their eyes about — ‘See something, say something.’ It’s on a daily basis, general matters that happen around our lives every day with co-workers, with family members with stuff we see on the street. We are so distracted by everything else we’re doing with social media, gossip and things that just have really small measures of influence and importance on our lives. That we just missed things like this all the time. It’s a wonder something like this hasn’t happened before, save for the work of law enforcement folks who are working day and night.
And I would say this, last week with the NATO Summit, that’s a perfect example of getting it right. But all it takes is one situation to mess things up and mess the reputation up. But the reality is, Americans need to start listening, paying attention and waking up and just step out of this self-absorbed bubble that we’ve been living in.
John Aaron: Sounds like at this rally, some people did see something and say something and there was a delay in getting any action from police or Secret Service. I’m sure that’ll be part of the investigation. Where else does this investigation go J. J.?
J.J. Green: Leadership … without a doubt. You’ve heard conversations about Congress wanting to talk to the Secret Service about this. But this goes to leadership. And there will be those that will tell you that you know when you start missing and scrimping on little and small things like that, they add up to big things later.
And that’s not just a security thing, that’s anywhere — that’s in the workplace, that’s in the news business, that’s people who deliver newspapers. The smallest of things can lead to the biggest problems later. That’s all about leadership based on what I’ve been told and what I’ve seen over my life, all about leadership, instilling the need to do things right all the time. So I think that’s what this investigation is going to dig into once it gets to that point. It’s about leadership and what the plans were.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
