US politicians demanding Secret Service answers after Donald Trump assassination attempt

 US politicians demanding Secret Service answers after Donald Trump assassination attempt

Donald Trump was still receiving treatment from a failed assassination attempt when senior Republican politicians started demanding answers from the US Secret Service. 

Tasked with keeping the former president safe, the elite security agency's failure to prevent Mr Trump being shot in the ear at a public rally has left its senior leaders facing congressional questions. 

There have been no shortage of attacks and threats against US politicians and their families in recent years but an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate under Secret Service protection offers the darkest moment for the agency in decades.

What is the Secret Service?

Just hours before his own assassination, president Abraham Lincoln signed the paperwork to establish the Secret Service in 1865.

Initially tasked with combating currency counterfeiting, the Secret Service took on protecting the US president after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. 

Today, the Secret Service maintains permanent protection on the president and vice-president, their families and their predecessors. It also offers temporary protection to high-profile politicians, presidential candidates and visiting heads of state. 

The Secret Service includes both highly-visible bodyguards and advancers that assess threats in before the politician arrives at an event. The bodyguards were the first to storm the stage and cover Mr Trump when the gunfire rang out in western Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press reported that a heavily armed tactical team travels everywhere with a president and presidential candidate and is tasked with confronting would-be attackers.

What went wrong?

Pennsylvania state police, at a press conference after the shooting, said the Secret Service was the lead agency tasked with ensuring Mr Trump's safety. It was also responsible for assessing threats in advance.

The Secret Service didn't attend the press conference but in a statement said a suspected shooter fired "multiple shots" at Mr Trump, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others. The Secret Service confirmed it killed the shooter, who the FBI later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crook.

The attempted assassination occurred at an outdoor afternoon rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

Mr Trump was standing on a stage when he was shot from a nearby rooftop.

The AP is reporting that the roof, despite being outside the campaign event, was less than 150 metres from where Mr Trump was speaking.

FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said his agency was working with the Secret Service to determine what precautions the Secret Service had in place before the rally. 

Pennsylvania State Police deputy commissioner George Bivens defended the Secret Service and said it was difficult to secure an open venue. 

"In their defence, what I would want to say is it's incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public and to secure that against any possible threat, against a very determined attacker," he said.

"The investigation will really give us an opportunity to take a look at where any failures occurred and what can be done better in the future."

Had there been warning signs?

Witnesses have told news outlets, including the BBC and NBC, that they saw a man climb onto a roof outside the event. They say they flagged what they saw with police. 

Rally attendees have told media that they had to pass through security checkpoints, including magnetometers, which are metal detectors commonly used to detect handguns.