Gainesville native Jim Grogan, who spent 23 years in the Secret Service, joined WDUN’s "The Drive at 5" Monday to give his reaction to Saturday's assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.
“First and foremost, I would say that this is a horrific, tragic day for our country. We have got one gentleman dead, we have got two that are in the hospital fighting for their lives,” Grogan said. “And I don't consider this event finished until, hopefully, we have a full and total recovery of those two victims that are in the hospital.”
Grogan said horrific mistakes took place on Saturday. He said he talks with fellow former agents and they are all asking the same questions.
“What exactly happened here? The shots were fired from approximately 150 yards away. That's a fairly easy shot, even without a scope,” Grogan said. “We are asking each other how a young man 20-years-old goes across a lawn or a parking lot with a gun, a long gun next to him, and climbs a ladder, from what we understand, climbs onto a metal roof, and fires shots at President Trump.”
According to Grogan, the advanced sniper team is responsible for long-distance threats and tries to get a 360-degree view of the area.
Grogan said he could never imagine something like this happening and hopes the Secret Service will be more proactive.
“With an assailant, just walking up like that, I would never believe that this could happen. If somebody had said, ‘Hey, we're gonna make a TV show and put this scenario in it’ I would have said no, nobody would believe that. I would have thought that he would have been confronted in the outer perimeter. And it seems to me that he boldly just walked on in but I just don't think any of the former agents I've talked to I don't think we have an answer. I really don't. I think it was just a lapse in security with manpower somehow.”
