Former FBI Special Agent shares his thoughts in aftermath of rally shooting

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-A former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI Field Office watched the live coverage of the televised rally when a 20-year-old gunman tried to assassinate former President Donald J. Trump.

"My first thought really raced back to the Reagan situation, my thought was here we go again," said Tom Parker.

In 1981, Parker was working for the FBI when President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded .

"Anything like this is a real tragedy for the individuals and the political system," said Parker , "The last time we had one of these was the shooting of President Reagan and that was early in my days with the FBI but I got involved in that and essentially handled the media for the first couple of hours on that."

Reagan was wounded by John Hinkley Jr. who believed the shooting would impress Tax Driver actress Jodie Foster.

The gunfire seriously wounded White House press SecretaryJames Brady.

Parker knows a lot about how this investigation will unfold.

He said the Secret Service will have to find out where the breach of security occurred that allowed the shooting that killed a firefighter protecting his family and injured former President Trump and two people attending the rally.

"The Secret Service is going to be examining what they did right, what they did wrong, and what created the breach in the security system that allowed that young man to get on that roof and actually shoot at the former President and I am sure that is well underway now."

Parker said he knew the FBI would come in and take over the investigation.

He believes there will be tremendous cooperation between the agencies.

He said there has been rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.

"There has been a lot of criticism by the former President of not only the FBI and the Justice Department but some criticism to some extent of the Secret Service and what the American People need to realize [is] these are both very professional organizations with highly trained law enforcement officers in both."

Parker said now is the time to be patient.

"Mistakes happen, I have seen it, I have experienced it myself in the FBI, fortunately it wasn't a case like this one is, but I think the American people need to stop and remember these are very professional organizations, they are going to get to the bottom of this. it may take a little bit of time, they are going to answer all the questions that are out in the news media right now and among the American public, I think the thing is to have patience, don't pick one side or another yet in terms of who may have been the most at fault, but wait until these investigations are complete."

Many people are concerned the violence will lead to more violence.

"There have already been people who have said President Biden is responsible for this because of his rhetoric on the campaign trail, but they also need to stop and think about the rhetoric that has existed on the other side of this political equation and set that rhetoric aside."

The investigation may shed light on surprises.

"it is not unusual for them to end in a totally different way than what the public thought we just need to wait."

Parker said there is a whole list of things that are normally done in a case like this.

They are already looking into the background of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper positioned on another rooftop.

"Ultimately it is going to point do why he did it and was there anybody else involved."

Although Park is happily retired and living in Santa Barbara, he said he would welcome the challenge of being part of this investigation.