Roof gunman used to shoot at Trump was not manned by US Secret Service for 'safety' reasons

Police snipers walk on a roof to set up before Donald Trump was set to speak at the campaign rally on Saturday. Credit: AP

The US Secret Service did not put agents on the roof where a gunman attempted to assassinate Donald Trump because of health and safety reasons, the organisation's director said.

On Saturday, lone gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired multiple shots at the former president while he was on a stage before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.

Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service director, said the “sloped roof” where Crooks was positioned was not manned because of a "safety factor".

“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof,” she told ABC News on Tuesday.

Donald Trump was helped off the stage by US Secret Service agents Credit: Gene J Puskar/AP

She added that a "decision was made to secure the building, from inside”.

It remains unknown how Crooks managed to obtain access to the roof, with the position considered close enough for a marksman to hit a target.

Ms Cheatle and the Secret Service have received scrutiny for their handling of the incident.

Dean Peterson, a former Secret Service agent, says the building should have been guarded or the Secret Service should have been on the roof

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is demanding top leaders from the Secret Service, FBI and Homeland Security appear to discuss the assassination attempt.

The storm around the Trump assassination attempt led to a quietening of the crisis gripping the Democratic Party in recent weeks - the future of Joe Biden.

Former Secret Service Agent Dean Peterson says some parts of the security precautions were "screwed up"

This came roaring back on Wednesday when Adam Schiff, a Californian congressman running to be a senator became the most senior politician within the party calling for him to stand down.

A poll released on Wednesday also found two-thirds of Democrats said the president should withdraw from the race, undercutting his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.

Appearing to change his tone on his stance on Wednesday an the president said in an interview if doctors told him he had a medical condition he would pull out of the race.

He had previously said only "God Almighty" could get him to stand aside.

The turmoil in the Democratic Party is a marked contrast to the Republicans who have united completely behind Trump.

Inside Congress Republican representative Mark Green - who chairs the committee - said in a statement he wants Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on July 23.

Congressman Dan Meuser says her comments were "unbelievable"

Green wrote that the “American people want answers” on Saturday’s shooting.

He has been demanding information about the shooting including plans to secure the perimeter where the rally was held.

In her ABC interview, Ms Cheatle said she will not step down from her role.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified by the FBI as the gunman involved in the attempted assassination. Credit: AP

Several questions remain unanswered about the shooting, including the motive, why Crooks was not stopped and why the building was unsecured.

Authorities have conducted hundreds of interviews, cracked into the shooter’s phone and searched his car and home, but a motive behind the attempt on Trump’s life remains unknown.

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