The Butler, Pennsylvania Township commissioner pushed back on the Secret Service and the media, arguing it was “completely unacceptable” that local police officers were being blamed for security failures at the Trump rally.
Edward Natali said local officers were not responsible for the security breaches that led to the shooting during “Fox & Friends,” explaining that the township had seven officers deployed to the event for traffic control only.
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“I kept seeing the narrative coming out in the media that it’s local police and local police hyphenated, and I said, ‘That’s just completely unacceptable,'” Natali said on Thursday.
“The Butler Township Police Department is an honorable department, works hard. Our detail was specifically planned for traffic detail only. There was no security, no protection detail whatsoever. We had seven officers deployed, and that’s one-third of our total force, and that was again to control traffic, obviously.”
“Several thousand cars coming into the area, it’s very important,” he continued. “Plus also to be there for emergency situations… not someone getting shot… but just… heat and everything.”
Local authorities revealed Wednesday that officers stationed outside the rally peeled off of their traffic posts to assist in the hunt for a “suspicious male” before an officer came face-to-face with the gunman and had to drop from the side of the AGR building.
“Upon Former President Trump’s arrival, a call went out for a suspicious male near the AGR building and several officers broke free from their traffic intersections of responsibility and responded to the area to aid in the search,” Butler Township Manager Tom Knights said Wednesday. “A search was conducted around the AGR building and the person of interest was not located, and no ladder was discovered.”
“Was it your guys’ job to secure that building where the shooter was on the top of the roof?” Lawrence Jones asked Natali.
“Absolutely not,” he responded.
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Natali also noted, despite previous reporting, that the officer who confronted the gunman on the rooftop did not climb a ladder. He said he was “hoisted” up by another officer and ended up sustaining injuries when he fell.
“The officer was not climbing a ladder. He was actually being hoisted by [a] fellow officer to get a view up onto the roof as he was being hoisted up, and he was holding on to the edge of the roof to try to get his head up over the edge of the roof so he could see what was going on,” Natali said.
“Then, the suspect turned his rifle on the officer, and of course, he’s not in a position to protect himself. He’s not in a position to wield his weapon. … Obviously in that condition… he couldn’t protect himself … he couldn’t engage him. So he ended up trying to get his weapon, but he fell backwards and was injured.”
Natali was unable to answer why officers could not use a ladder to access the roof.
Meanwhile, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appeared to backpedal Tuesday as her agency and local law enforcement pointed fingers over the security lapse at former President Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.
Cheatle said in an interview with CNN the Secret Service was “solely responsible” for security at Trump’s rally, where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb on top of a nearby building and fire a rifle at Trump. One spectator was killed, and the Republican candidate and two others were injured during the attempted assassination.
“I am not here to throw anyone under the bus,” Natali reiterated. “What I’m doing is protecting my team for what is a completely unacceptable suggestion in the media and by the Secret Service.”
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz, Chris Eberhart and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.