At a recent Trump rally, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to get past security and fire shots, injuring Trump and killing a bystander. The Secret Service blamed local police for not securing a nearby rooftop from which Crooks fired, claiming it was outside their designated perimeter. Neighbors near the rally site were baffled by the lack of law enforcement presence before the event. Despite warnings about Crooks’ suspicious behavior, he wasn’t stopped until it was too late. Now, there are calls for a thorough investigation into how this major security lapse occurred.

The Secret Service insisted that the rooftop where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to kill former President Donald Trump was outside the area that the federal organization was entrusted with guarding and held local police accountable for their failure to secure it.

According to Secret Service official Anthony Gugliemi, local Pennsylvania police were in charge of guarding and securing the AGR International Inc. plant grounds, which are roughly 130 yards from the platform where Trump was speaking on Saturday, as reported by the New York Times.

Local police were enlisted to help with those efforts and secure the area outside the rally; the Secret Service was only assigned to guard the grounds where Trump’s rally was held.

However, neighbors close to Butler Farm Show Grounds told The Post that neither local nor federal law enforcement ever paid them a visit in the days preceding or following the demonstration.

Nobody got in touch with me. No one. Valerie Fennell, whose house is located just past an AGR stand of trees and backs up to the fairgrounds, stated, “Nobody stopped here, nobody called me.

“I kinda was thinking that as close as my house is, that I honestly thought this might be part of a command station at some point,” she said.

Not only did Fennell claim that no one from law enforcement had gotten in touch with her, but she also claimed that, despite living close to the protest grounds, her entire neighborhood had been mysteriously abandoned.

“I was talking to my neighbors yesterday, and none of them had gotten a call. Or anything,” she said, while her sister, Debra, agreed.

“I guess it’s kind of the same question that everybody has. I guess, as far as like, why that area wasn’t secure.”

The mistakes seemed to have persisted throughout the rallies as well.

According to CNN, attendees saw 20-year-old Thomas Crooks acting strangely close to the rally metal detectors. Local police enforcement was alerted and warned the Secret Service to be on the lookout for him over their radios.

In addition, he was said to have been observed entering the rally with a rifle outside of a security checkpoint. Later, he was seen jumping “roof to roof” before arriving at the AGR facility.

Before eventually reacting to reports of an armed guy on the AGR roof, it appears that police were unable to locate him during the period those alerts were out.

Law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that at approximately 6:10 p.m., a local police officer scaled a ladder onto the roof and confronted Crooks, who was aiming his gun at him.

Crooks aimed and fired perhaps eight shots at the rally as the cop retreated down the ladder. He struck Trump in the ear, critically injured two more people in the crowd, and killed bystander Corey Comperatore in the audience.

Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service snipers who were positioned on a barn rooftop behind the stage in a matter of moments. It is unclear if the shooters had noticed Crooks, but they seemed to have their sights focused on him before starting to fire.

The Secret Service acknowledged that it relied on local law enforcement to assist with event security, stating to the Washington Post that this is standard procedure when seeking assistance from local organizations.

The heavily armed agents covering Trump’s evacuation, known as the Secret Service’s counter-assault team, consisted of at least six officers from Butler County tactical units in addition to leaving the areas outside the rally perimeter under the jurisdiction of local police. The team consisted of only two members of the Secret Service.

Two local sniper teams supported the two Secret Service sniper teams.

Pennsylvania police acknowledged that while they frequently help the Secret Service when prominent government figures visit the state, the federal organization is ultimately in charge.

Lt Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police told reporters, “Secret Service always has the lead on securing something like this.”

He stated, “They’re the lead in that security, but we work with them to provide whatever is requested by the Secret Service.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced plans to call agency director Kimberly Cheatle for a hearing on July 22 in response to calls for an inquiry of the Secret Service and the circumstances that led Crooks to come within millimeters of killing Trump.

Explore exclusive GGI coverage of Donald Trump’s assassination attempt.