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

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 organisations 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.