A former FBI official says Secret Service snipers could have mistaken the Trump shooter for a police sniper

• An ex-FBI official says the Secret Service may have had a comms breakdown at the Trump rally shooting.

• Frank Figliuzzi said agents may have mistaken the shooter for a police sniper.

• He said security protocols and coordination between the Secret Service and local police need improvement.

A former FBI official says a communications breakdown between the Secret Service and the local police may be to blame for why President Donald Trump got shot at on Saturday at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI official, said that the Secret Service may have mistaken the shooter for a Butler policeman.

In an opinion piece published in Daily Mail, he said it was "highly likely" that the Secret Service was "responsible for security within an enclosed perimeter, while the local police took charge of the wider zone outside."

Figluizzi theorized that Secret Service agents could have mistaken Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, for a police sniper.

Investigators said that Crooks fired multiple rounds from a rooftop around 150 meters away from Trump using an AR-15 rifle.

"We know that a Secret Service sniper must have had a clear view of the rooftop because the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead within a few seconds of opening fire on Trump," wrote Figliuzzi.

"But why did that sniper ignore Crooks till then? One plausible explanation is that the Secret Service (which is entirely separate from the FBI) assumed the assassin was a police sniper, part of their security team," Figliuzzi added.

He wrote that such a case "implies serious failures in communication."

"I would expect police and Secret Service teams to not only meet and introduce themselves but map out their specific roles in detail," Figliuzzi said in his opinion piece. "They ought to have been able to recognize each other by sight."

Figliuzzi also wrote that he disagreed with what the Secret Service agents did during the rally, like letting Trump pause to pose for a photo with his face bloodied or complying with his request to retrieve his shoes.

"In that moment, the Secret Service had no way of knowing if the gunman was acting alone. Other shooters might have been present," he wrote.

Figliuzzi served in the FBI for 25 years, working in its Atlanta and Washington, DC headquarters.

In 2011, he landed the role of assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division. He now works as a news analyst and commentator on MSNBC.

The Secret Service is currently under scrutiny for failing to protect Trump and prevent the shooting from happening.

Matt Shoemaker, a former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, called the shooting a "major failure" by the Secret Service.

"I've been to these sorts of events before, and there are layers upon layers of security," Shoemaker told BI. "So for the alleged shooter to be on a rooftop, with a clear shot to the podium — it is mind-boggling to say that this was overlooked."

For his part, Trump has praised the Secret Service, saying that they did a "fantastic job" shooting Crooks instantly.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle apologized for the incident in a statement on Monday, saying that she wanted to extend her "deepest condolences" to the family and friends of Corey Comperatore, a rallygoer who was killed during the assassination attempt.

"The Secret Service is working with all involved Federal, state, and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again," she said.

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has summoned Cheatle to testify in front of Congress at a hearing scheduled for July 22.

Other details have since emerged about Crooks. He was a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the center said in a statement obtained by The Hill on Sunday.

Crooks' ex-classmate also told media outlets that the gunman was such a bad shot that he got rejected from his high school rifle team. But outside school, Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, a club with multiple pistol and rifle ranges in Clairton, Pennsylvania, CBS News reported.

Crooks' motives for the attack are, at press time, unclear.

For his part, Trump has emerged emboldened from the botched assassination attempt.

On Monday evening, he received a hero's welcome at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when he walked in with a giant bandage on his ear.

At the RNC, he declared his running mate pick — Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

Representatives for the Secret Service and the Butler police did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

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