Pennsylvania police commissioner throws cold water on Secret Service 'sloped roof' concerns: 'I cannot agree'
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris says he "cannot agree" with Secret Service claims that a "sloped roof" in Butler posed a problem.
Pennsylvania State Police shut down concerns by now-resigned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the "sloped roof" the shooter used to nearly assassinate former President Trump was too unsafe for law enforcement officers.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris made the statement during his testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. Paris oversaw the state and local law enforcement in their partnership with the Secret Service during Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., began his questions by recounting his own experience having been to the scene of the shooting earlier this week.
"The Secret Service director, prior to her resignation, said that she did not put anybody on the roof because it had a sloped roof that would have created a safety concern," Guest began. "I was in Butler, Pennsylvania, yesterday with many members of this committee. My fellow member, Carlos Jimenez, who, is 70 years old…. There's video of him easily traversing the roof, walking across the roof. Even though he is some 50 years older than the shooter."
"And so, my question is, do you agree with the assessment of the former Secret Service director that the roof was so sloped, that it created safety concerns?" he asked.
"I cannot agree with that," Paris responded.
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Lawmakers questioned Paris about all aspects of security at the Butler rally. While he offered more details than Cheatle gave during her Monday hearing, he too was limited by the FBI's ongoing investigation into the incident.
He was joined in testimony by Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police. Yoes offered expert testimony in leading police and running security.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., filmed himself on Monday climbing the roof where Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump.
"And so what really bothers me, and the reason I got up on the roof – I'm 70 – was for the director to say, ‘Well, the steepness of the roof won't allow Secret Service agents to be up there.’ That was the final straw for me," he said.
"I could run around on that roof all day long," Giminez added.