Local police say they weren’t assigned security duties at warehouse used in assassination attempt on Donald Trump

At the Pennsylvania rally where a gunman nearly assassinated former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service expected local law enforcement to contain any threats outside the secured zone but assigned nearly all officers to work inside it. 

According to a report by The New York Times, none of the assisting law enforcement agencies, including the Pennsylvania State Police, the Butler Township Police Department, the Butler County Sheriff, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, claimed they were tasked with monitoring the area outside the security perimeter set by the Secret Service.

This lack of oversight included the complex of warehouses north of the rally grounds, where the gunman gained access to a rooftop just over 400 feet from the podium where Trump was speaking.

"I am going to defend those guys because it wasn’t their job to secure the building," said Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.

The majority of local officers were ordered by the Secret Service to assist with duties inside the secured perimeter, an area already protected by a fence, metal detectors, and Secret Service agents. This security lapse outside the perimeter allowed the attempted assassin to gain a vantage point to fire from. The officers who were near the shooter had left their designated duties, which were to direct traffic, in order to approach the gunman.

In response to mounting pressure on the Secret Service for its widespread failures, Director Kimberly Cheatle, in an interview with ABC News earlier this week, placed the blame on local police for the unsecured area where the gunman was located.

“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”

Following Cheatle’s comments, local law enforcement agencies countered her claims, stating no officers were deployed to the building the gunman was on top of.