SALISBURY, N.C. — In the days following the Trump rally shooting, many online have raised eyebrows over the Secret Service response.
Harry McLaughlin worked for the Secret Service for 16 years and is now on Salisbury City Council.
He shared his take on the actions of the Secret Service or what some are calling the lack thereof, during former president Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
"Depending on where they're going, the protection may not be the same as the current sitting president because things are always going on," McLaughlin said. "The RNC is going on as well so there are people who have been out there for 2 weeks already."
McLaughlin said special agents head out about a week before any event to assess and document threats, which then determines how many agents are assigned to an event.
"In this incident, it was an open field you usually don't have as many agents because the open line of sight it's not too many places to go to."
McLaughlin said, at some point, someone made a grave error, whether it be special agents or their partners in local and state law enforcement.
It cost a person their life and left three others injured including the former president.
"you go to particular cities and it's the first time any president has been there and it's new to them and they aren't sure how it works. Sometimes communication isn't where it needs to be. They may have been depending on an outside agency to work the outer perimeter. "
There's a lot of criticism surrounding the length of time it took to get Trump off stage and what's perceived as the Secret Service delaying it so he could have this moment.
When they got up they wanted to make sure he could move they also checked to see if he had other injuries. so it wasn't so much to give him an opportunity to do a fist pump or whatever the case may be"
Mclaughlin also addressed criticism over the time it took snipers to take down the shooter, Thomas Crooks.
He says snipers usually send a special agent and officer to check the threat before taking action.
A motive for the shooting is still unclear.