Donald Trump’s would-be assassin was flagged as “suspicious” by the Secret Service up to an hour before he began shooting but was lost in the crowd, lawmakers have been told by law enforcement officials.
In two closed briefings to lawmakers in the House and Senate on Wednesday, law enforcement officials, including the Secret Service, shared limited new information about security and the man who opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Wyoming Senator, John Barrasso said the Secret Service told them they had spotted the attacker one hour before the attack, but then lost sight of him.
“He was identified as a character of suspicion because [he had] a rangefinder as well as a backpack. And this was over an hour before the shooting actually occurred,” he told Fox News.
“So, you would think over the course of that hour, you shouldn’t lose sight of the individual.”
A rangefinder is an instrument that can be used to help measure the distance to a target.
It was also revealed during the briefings that the gunman had visited the site of the attack, the Butler County fairgrounds, at least once in the days before the assassination attempt and had previously searched on his phone for symptoms of a depressive disorder, an official familiar with the briefing told CBS News, the BBC’s news partner.
The attacker had also used his phone to search for images of both Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. FBI Director Wray told lawmakers on the call that more than 200 interviews had already been conducted and 14,000 images reviewed.
BBC / Titilayo Kupoliyi
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