LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Since the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13, all eyes have been on the Secret Service and what went wrong.
In more than 20 years as a Secret Service agent, Louisville native Greg Gitschier provided security for the Olympic Games in Russia, the Pope, President Reagan and his family, and five other former and current presidents.
So when she heard that a gunman had stabbed former President Trump in Pennsylvania, Gitschier couldn’t believe the storied law enforcement agency had failed.
“We definitely got a black eye and we just have to admit it,” Gitschier said.
Among the many mistakes made that day in Butler, Pennsylvania, Gitschier said two really stand out.
First, don’t keep your eyes on the sky.
“You know, it would have been really nice if we didn’t have a helicopter and had a couple of drones up there because how quickly they would have seen that guy on the white roof!” Gitschier said.
But instead, the country learned that several hours before the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, tried to kill the former president, he flew a drone over the scene of the shooting in Butler.
“It’s a bit ironic that we don’t have any drones, but this 20-year-old kid does,” Gitschier said.
Gitschier said the second big mistake was allowing Trump to take the stage even though Crooks was seen using a one-eyed rangefinder an hour before he started shooting. Then, according to senators who were briefed, Crooks was seen on the rooftop 20 minutes before he opened fire.
“Once that information reached the Secret Service, in my opinion, they should never have let the protected person, in this case former President Trump, out of the vehicle. That’s his safe room,” Gitschier said.
The sniper who killed Crooks told other officers that Gitschier knew he could not shoot until he was sure Crooks was not a police officer and then lost sight of Crooks until he raised his head slightly.
“He said when he fired the shot all he could see was, picture this, half the guy’s scope and his forehead, that’s all he had and the guy took the shot and it was probably 400 yards,” Gitschier said.
Gitschier also found it painful to watch former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s testimony before Congress on Monday.
“Tell them the truth, we made a mistake, tell them the truth, tell them what happened. They asked her for a timeline and she said, ‘Well, I don’t really have a timeline.’ How can you not have a timeline? It’s all documented from Arizona,” Gitschier said.
Cheatle resigned, and while he is gone, Gitschier hopes to see stricter standards for officers reinstated.
“Instead of the top 25 of whatever you’re doing, it’s now five of this five of this five of this five of that, you can fill in the blanks. I think you saw what happens when you do that,” Gitschier said.
Gitschier said one of his all-time favorite officers is a woman, but said when it comes to people close to the president, they have to be tall enough to protect him and strong enough to carry him.
Gitschier adds that the Secret Service has records of every communication, so we’ll know whether Trump’s requests for extra security were in fact denied or whether Pennsylvania law enforcement offered drones.
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