Butler, Pennsylvania town manager defends police amid response 'misconception'

The Butler Township manager, Thomas Knights, defended local police officers' response to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at his rally on Saturday.

Knights' comments come amid some sparring between the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the Fraternal Order of Police as both federal and local law enforcement take criticism from the public for being unable to stop the would-be Trump assassin before he fired, though Knights says that tension has not "spilled over into" Butler.

"I think there's some misconception about overall response. I can only speak for our officers transitioning from what was supposed to be a primary traffic control assistance to where it became … a suspicious person," the township manager, who supervises all Butler department heads including the police chief, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday. 

"I think our law enforcement did exactly what training taught them to do. … How subsequent events played out, that's another thing for what I hope to be a really complete report on the incident to educate everybody." 

Knights added that to his knowledge, the USSS has not been in "any direct communication" with Butler officials.

"There are ongoing interviews with all law enforcement that were at the event, regardless of what their roles were. So we're all just waiting on that information to be put together into one public report," he explained.