Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) revealed on Friday that “multiple whistleblowers” have contacted him with allegations that President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., last weekend was designated as a “loose” security event.
“Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office,” Hawley wrote. “According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a ‘loose’ security event.”
The Missouri senator has demanded answers in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the Secret Service’s security failure that allowed a gunman to allegedly climb a roof and obtain a clear line of fire towards Trump at the rally.
Hawley claimed that detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats “in the usual manner.”
“Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas,” Hawley said. “Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event’s security perimeter.”
Hawley, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has opened a whistleblower tip line in his office, pledging to keep it anonymous for those who call with information.
Like some of his Republican colleagues, Hawley condemned the shooting and demanded to know what allowed it to occur.
The shooting left the former president with a wound on one ear, killed one rally attendee, and critically injured two others. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed after firing the shots.
The sloped roof of the building Crooks climbed had “safety factor” considerations, so law enforcement was inside the building rather than on top of it, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday.
Calls for Cheatle to step down have increased, but she has rejected them. She confirmed on Friday that she will testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday.
President Biden has directed an independent review of security at the rally. He said the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General has also opened an investigation into how the Secret Service handled security for the event.