By Steve Neavling
Newly obtained body-cam video shows that a local police officer complained to a colleague about the need to secure the area where the gunman opened fire on former President Trump, The Washington Post reports.
“I f—ing told them they needed to post guys f—ing over there. I told them that f—ing Tuesday,” the officer can be heard telling a colleague.
The video captures the chaos and frustration among law enforcement following the shooting, highlighting a central question in several investigations into the Secret Service’s most significant security lapse in decades: Why was the roof of a building so near the rally site left unsecured?
The Washington Post obtained 12 videos in response to a records request.
“Why weren’t we on the roof?” an officer in one of the videos asks a colleague. Another officer responds that “the Secret Service guys, they were like, ‘yeah, no problem, we’re gonna post guys over here.’”
A Secret Service spokesman didn’t respond for comment.
The body cameras were worn by police officers in Butler Township.
Another video shows an officer being hoisted on the roof of the Agr International building, where he spotted the gunman a half-minute before he fired eight shots. Seconds later, after the gunman pointed his weapon at the officer, the cop dropped down and retreated to the building’s parking lots seconds later.
“F—in’ this close, bro,” the officer says to a colleague while taking cover in the parking lot, pinching his fingers in the air. “Dude, he turned around on me.”
The officer alerted a local command post that the gunman was armed, but the Secret Service’s command center never received the message.
