Bobby Kennedy III, belonging to the renowned American political family that has been plagued by the ‘Kennedy curse’ of assassinations, accidents and deaths, has criticized the US Secret Service for failing to identify Donald Trump’s assailant before he fired shots at the former president. According to witnesses who spoke to the media, the suspect was seen on a factory roof shortly before targeting Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Kennedy III, son of current presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., expressed his frustration via X (formerly Twitter), writing: “Unsecured rooftop 150 yards away. Multiple witnesses saying they were screaming at secret service and cops for 3-4 minutes as they watched the guy with the rifle crawl to the spot and line up his shot. Take your secret service and shove it up your ass.
Kennedy III’s family has a tragic history of assassinations, with his uncle, former US President John F. Kennedy, and father, a New York senator and presidential candidate, both being assassinated in the 1960s. The recent attack on Trump raises concerns about security measures in place following the shooting. Multiple witnesses claimed that they had tried to warn police about the presence of the would-be assassin but did not receive a response.
The assailant, later identified as 20-year-old local Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by Secret Service snipers on the spot. One witness told the BBC that minutes before the attack, they and other people saw a man crawling up onto the roof carrying a rifle, and had tried to alert the police. He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle,” Greg Smith told the broadcaster. We’re like, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle. and the police did not know what was going on.
In another report, law enforcement officials told the AP that a local policeman had spotted the shooter on the roof moments before he attempted to kill Trump. However, the officer reportedly failed to stop the gunman after he pointed his AR-style rifle at him.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner expressed his concerns about the situation in an interview with CNN, stating: “The fact that we’re hearing that people knew that there was a man on this roof with a gun, and were trying to get police attention while the president was up at the podium is just incredibly cause for concern and, I think, very frustrating for everyone.
Trump narrowly escaped death after his attacker fired at least five shots. The presidential candidate suffered a wound to his right ear when he was grazed by one of the bullets. At least one rally attendee was killed in the attack due to stray bullets, with two others sustaining gunshot wounds.