トランプ氏警護チーム、銃撃犯に発砲まで気付かず　大統領警護隊

【バトラー（米国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】米大統領警護隊（シークレットサービス）のロナルド・ロウ長官代行は３０日、ドナルド・トランプ前大統領が銃撃されるまで、対狙撃チームも警護チームも、屋上の銃撃犯の存在には気付いていなかったと明らかにした。（写真は、米上院合同委員会の公聴会で証言する米大統領警護隊〈シークレットサービス〉のロナルド・ロウ長官代行〈手前左〉。首都ワシントンで）
　米連邦捜査局（ＦＢＩ）によると、地元警察は７月１３日にペンシルベニア州バトラーで開催されたトランプ氏の選挙集会で銃撃が始まる約１時間半前にトーマス・マシュー・クルックス容疑者を「不審人物」としてマークしていた。
　暗殺未遂事件以来、会場を見下ろす建物の屋上に銃撃犯がいたことに大統領警護隊がいつ気付いたのかという点をめぐり、議論が行われている。
　ロウ氏は上院合同委員会の公聴会で、「現在把握している情報では、大統領警護隊の対狙撃チームも前大統領の警護チームも、ＡＧＲ（企業名）の建物の屋根の上に銃を持った男がいることは全く知らなかった」と証言。
　「われわれが唯一把握していたのは、前大統領の右側、つまり銃弾が飛来した方向で地元警察が問題に取り組んでいたということだけだ」「屋根の上に男がいる、銃を持った男がいる、などという話は一切なかった」と述べた。
　ロウ氏は、クルックス容疑者が発砲した屋上の警備が甘かった点については「釈明できない」とし、警備の不徹底を「恥じている」と述べた。
　一方で、屋根の警備は地元警察の担当で、「われわれは州や地元の当局が担当していると思い込んでいた」と主張した。
　トランプ氏の登壇が許可された理由については、クルックス容疑者は脅威でななく、単なる不審人物として認識されていたと回答。
　「不審人物という以上のことは、私たちは何も知らされていなかった」ため、「脅威または差し迫った危険があるというレベルまで警戒を強めていなかった」と述べた。
　さらに、地元警察との連携ミスが「連鎖的な不手際」を招いた一因だと指摘した。
　また、当日は大統領警護隊の対ドローンシステムに「技術的な問題」が生じ、「５時すぎまで運用できなかった」と明らかにした。
　ＦＢＩによると、クルックス容疑者は銃撃の約２時間前、会場付近で１１分間ドローンを飛ばしていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/31-16:51）

Donald Trump's security detail and a sniper team were not aware there was a gunman on a roof until he opened fire on the former president, the acting Secret Service director said Tuesday.
Local law enforcement identified the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a suspicious person about 90 minutes before the July 13 attack at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to FBI officials.
Since the assassination attempt, questions have been raised about when the Secret Service became aware of the presence of the gunman on the roof of a building that overlooked the campaign event.
Based on what I know right now, neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams nor members of the former president's security detail had any knowledge that there was a man on the AGR roof with a firearm, acting Secret Service chief Ronald Rowe told a joint Senate committee.
The only thing we had was that locals were working an issue at the three o'clock, which would have been the former president's right-hand side, which is where the shots came from, Rowe said.
Nothing about man on the roof, nothing about man with a gun, he said.
FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said Monday that a police officer was boosted on to the roof by another officer at 6:11 pm.
Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer, who immediately dropped to the ground.
Approximately 25 to 30 seconds after this encounter, the subject fired eight rounds before being successfully neutralized, Rojek said.
Rowe said Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper within 15.5 seconds of firing the first shot.
The Republican presidential candidate was wounded in the right ear, while two rally attendees were injured and a Pennsylvania firefighter was killed.
- 'Ashamed' -
Rowe said he cannot defend why the rooftop where Crooks fired from was not better secured, and said he was ashamed about the security lapses.
He said local law enforcement had been tasked with securing the rooftop. We assumed that the state and locals had it, he said.
Asked why Trump was allowed to take the stage, Rowe said Crooks had not been identified as a threat but only as suspicious.
We did not have anything beyond suspicious person that was communicated to us, he said. Suspicion had not risen to the level of threat or imminent harm.
Rowe said communications failures between local law enforcement and the Secret Service contributed to what he called a failure on multiple levels.
The Secret Service had technical difficulties with its counter-drone capabilities on the day of the attack and they were not operational until after five o'clock, he said.
Crooks flew a drone near the rally site for 11 minutes about two hours before the attack, according to the FBI.
FBI deputy director Paul Abbate also addressed the committee hearing and said the authorities still have not established a motive.
He said they have identified a social media account believed to be associated with Crooks.
In about the 2019, 2020 timeframe there were over 700 comments posted from this account, Abbate said. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti-Semitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after acknowledging that the agency had failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt.