Gunman should never have had a direct line of sight to Trump in the first place – DHS Mayorkas
The Director of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has echoed the words of several other Americans, saying that 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who fired several shots at former President Donald Trump, should never have been able to get into a position with a direct line of sight in the first place.
“A direct line of sight like that to the former president should not occur,” Mayorkas told “Good Morning America” on Monday, June 15. “That’s why President Biden directed an independent review of the incident.”
Members of the U.S. Secret Service shot and killed Crooks, with other Secret Service agents surrounding the former president, collectively wrapping themselves around him and hustling him to a waiting SUV.
But in the days since the shooting, the service has come under intense heat for how Crooks, could have come so close in his attempt to assassinate Trump to begin with.
“We have to learn everything about the assailant who, of course, the secret service so bravely neutralized,” Mayorkas said.
He added, “We are going to really study the event independently and make recommendations to the Secret Service and to me, so that we can assure the safety and security of our protectees, which is one of our most vital missions in the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and across the government.”
Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle briefed President Joe Biden late Saturday, following the assassination attempt, according to the secretary.
“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today,” he said on social media.
He added, “We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
The Secret Service on Saturday formally notified the FBI of the incident, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
President Joe Biden announced an independent review of the agency’s actions, a review that Cheatle said on Monday the agency would welcome.
