Benny Johnson investigates Trump assassination attempt in new documentary

Johnson said it was critical to determine how the federal government and Secret Service permitted Crooks, armed with a rifle and a rangefinder, to climb on top of a roof near Trump's rally with the sole purpose of attempting to kill Donald Trump and his supporters. Since the United States government "has told us nothing" and the Secret Service has "lied" numerous times to the American people, Johnson said it was imperative to find out answers independently from the US government.

He was joined by Congressmen Cory Mills (R-FL) and Eli Crane (R-AZ) of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, both of whom have constitutional oversight of the Secret Service and are experts in counter-sniper operations and tactical threat engagement. Mills is an Army combat veteran and was previously a State Dept. sniper, while Crane is a former Navy Seal who was the lead sniper for his platoon.

The team investigated five main security failures that created the conditions for Trump to get shot: Rooftop kill zones, security dead zones, overwatch, the sniper's nest, and communications collapse.

"We've got to figure out how a 20-year-old kid acting alone, by himself, got within 150 yards of one of the most powerful, one of the most loved, but also one of the most hated individuals on the entire planet," said Rep. Crane.

Crooks was denied entry to the event by the Secret Service and was flagged as a suspicious person by local law enforcement before he climbed on top of a roof armed with a rifle. His movements were "slow and obvious to anyone with a line of sight," said Johnson, citing newly released video footage of Crooks on the rooftop.

Crooks was on the roof in position for at least three minutes before he attempted to assassinate Trump. Local law enforcement had him surrounded and Crooks had pointed his rifle at both police and event attendees before he fired off shots, according to video footage.

The Secret Service snipers on top of the red barn location behind Trump had a clear line of sight to engage the shooter but did not fire until Trump had been shot. It took them 20 seconds to neutralize Crooks. Congressmen Crane and Mills suggested that the snipers' scope could have been on high magnification which would have resulted in Crooks not appearing on the scope, though this suggestion has not been verified.

Local law enforcement pointed to communication failures and said they were supposed to get an official briefing from the Secret Service snipers before the event but the meeting never happened, saying they "had no communication with the Secret Service."

Despite local police spotting Crooks on top of the roof, officers said they had no way of directly contacting the Secret Service snipers or agents. The department had no intelligence and was "left in the dark," which officers cited as the reason for the slow neutralization of Crooks.

While on top of the "Sniper's Nest," where Crooks was situated, Representatives Crane and Mills determined that the level of difficulty for the Secret Service snipers to take out Crooks would have "been easy." Video footage shows that the would-be assassin's position was fatally close to President Trump, and the SS snipers were positioned directly behind the GOP presidential nominee.

"The Secret Service is responsible for stationing all protective teams for the president. Local and state law enforcement officers go where they're told, and do what they're told," said Johnson.

A local SWAT sniper team was stationed on the second floor of the AGR building with "perfect overwatch of the roof" where Crooks was positioned. The snipers in this location "could have and should have" easily been able to engage Crooks before he ever came close to scope sight of Trump, said Johnson.

However, Rep. Crane explained that after one of the SWAT snipers reported Crooks as a suspicious person, he went to investigate his findings. That sniper got locked out of the building, which resulted in the other SWAT sniper retracting from his post to let the officer back in. It was at that moment, according to Crane, that Crooks fired the shots.

The two experts also questioned why there was no counter-sniper team positioned on top of the water tower, which was another controversial operational matter. Rep. Crane explained that leaving the water tower unmanned surrendered the high ground, which is imperative for law enforcement to have.

The documentary also revealed the "Security Dead Zones," which consisted of wide-open fields that allowed individuals to evade security checkpoints.

Congressman Mills said it's critical to "get the facts" and for there to be a "bipartisan full investigation" into July 13 to give transparency to the American people about the case, saying that US citizens need to have "confidence" that the assassination attempt wasn't "an inside job," "negligence," "or dereliction of duty." Mills said that citizens need to know their president, or future presidents, are going to be safe and protected and that the US SS will learn from their mistakes and perfect its operations in the future.

The experts determined that there were significant operational failures that could have prevented the assassination attempt on President Trump, placing the full blame on the Secret Service.

Benny Johnson is the host of "The Benny Show," which can be found on multiple platforms here, and you can watch the full documentary here.