• Trump's life was saved by a Secret Service counter-sniper assigned to Saturday's detail.
• But the shooter still managed to kill one rally-goer and injure two others before he was taken out.
• Experts said heat, staffing, and a focus on a nearby treeline may have cost crucial seconds.

The Secret Service counter-sniper who narrowly saved the life of former President Donald Trump may have lost crucial seconds due to a number of factors, including the extreme heat, a lack of anti-sniper backup, and a likely focus on a nearby treeline, a former special agent told Business Insider.

"This counter-sniper made an amazingly quick decision and clearly saved Trump's life," said Bill Pickle, the former special agent in charge of Al Gore's vice-presidential Secret Service detail.

"Our guys are the best shots in the world. That's what they do," Pickle said.

"And within a second of the moment this kid opened fire, the CS guy shot him," he said, using Secret Service shorthand for the counter-sniper deployed at Saturday night's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"But someone will blame that CS and the spotter, and say, 'If only he had been two seconds faster in spotting the shooter,'" the former special agent said.

"The real question may be, if there were more anti-sniper eyes on that building, could this have all been avoided."

How did the counter-sniper team not see the shooting suspect sooner?

Pickle said one area of focus for investigators will be how the shooter managed to get on top of the building without authorities taking notice.

"The other question is, why wasn't this roof secured, and were there agents or law enforcement in there checking IDs?" he added.

"How did this kid figure out a way to get out on the rooftop and slither across that rooftop?" Pickle said. "He low-crawled across the roof on his hands and knees, and he pushed the weapon ahead of him just like in the military."

But even if they had seen the shooting suspect more quickly, counter-snipers may not always have the ability to act immediately when they spot a threat, according to Anthony Cangelosi, a former special agent who directed the Secret Service's technical security advances for presidential candidates.

"You either have to make a decision: 'Do I take a shot? Or do I not take a shot?'" Cangelosi told Business Insider.

"What if you find out, 'Oh, I just killed a 20-year-old kid who loves the protectee, and he couldn't get in the venue, and he just wanted to get up on that roof?' No one wants to be in that position," Cangelosi said.

Cangelosi said the Secret Service team at the event should have a "site plan" that would include a layout of the area and the surrounding buildings.

The would-be assassin fired at least three rounds from a rooftop 150 yards from where Trump was speaking. He killed one rally-goer and critically injured two others before being shot dead by a yet-identified Secret Service counter-sniper, who was positioned on another rooftop.

One bullet grazed Trump's right ear, bloodying his face.

"This kid, at 150 yards, made a great shot," Pickle said Sunday of the would-be assassin, his voice grim. "I don't know the specifics of whether he used optics, meaning a scope on his rifle," he told BI.

"But even with optics, it takes somebody with training to aim at somebody's head from 150 yards away, and you actually hit the edge of the head," he said.

"That's not a lucky shot. That's a guy who actually shot before."

The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The FBI said they are still investigating a motive.

But for now, it's clear that at least three things may have factored into the several-second delay between when Crooks was seen crawling onto the roof and when the CS team saw and shot him, Pickle said.

The decision on how many anti-snipers to deploy may prove the most critical factor, he said.

"Someone made a decision that that number of counter-snipers was sufficient," he said. "And obviously, in hindsight, they were wrong because there was a kid who was able to get up there on that rooftop and pull the trigger three times at least."

How many CS teams were deployed?

Staffing decisions would have been made at Secret Service headquarters in Washington, based on whatever agency personnel on the ground recommended after a several-day investigation of the site, Pickle said.

"An advance team actually does a lengthy survey, where they look at everything and then recommend what they need," he said.

"But if they're stretched for resources, headquarters can say we can only get you one team out there. And that's not unusual — if you don't have it, you don't have it," Pickle said.

"It always boils down to resources," he said. "And if it's not a resource problem, and the money was there, then it's still an allocation of resources problem," he said — meaning someone underestimated the manpower needed to keep Trump safe.

Regardless of how many snipers were present, the Secret Service would typically have "360-degree coverage" of an event where a sitting or former president is speaking, Cangelosi said.

Other factors include the weather.

"The CS guys would probably say we were up there for four hours in 100-degree heat, and if we had another team up here or drone support this wouldn't have happened," Pickle said.

The team may also have been focusing on a nearby tree line, seeing it as the primary risk.

"You're looking at everything that would hide a potential assassin," Pickle said.

"The first assumption is that if I'm a bad guy, I'm going to hide. Human nature is such that I'm going to be scanning the rooftops, to make sure they're empty, but then I'm going to be focusing on that tree line because you think the bad guy is going to be hidden," Pickle said.

"You don't think the bad guy is going to be out in the open," he said.

Inter-agency squabbles and intense public scrutiny are forthcoming

Once the would-be assassin opened fire, "everything that happened up there was textbook and the way it should have happened," Pickle said. The CS team returned fire, long-gun-toting counter-assault agents in black jumpsuits and helmets rushed the stage, and business-suited agents on the rally platform hurried Trump off stage.

"But why wasn't he identified seconds sooner?" Pickle asked of the shooter.

"Was it caused by exhaustion from being on a 100-degree roof for four hours? Was the CS team watching the heavy foliage there, which arguably was the best place to hide?" he asked.

"An open roof is not the best place to hide. If he climbed out onto an open rooftop, he was prepared to die," he added.

"The worst nightmare for the Secret Service has always been a lone gunman who hasn't been announcing his views publicly and is ready to die."

Pickle said Saturday's incident will be dissected for years to come and "will be in the training syllabus forever."

"It's going to be a circular firing squad," Pickle predicted of the inter-agency finger-pointing and conspiracy theories that will play out as the attempted assassination is scrutinized by the FBI, Congress, and the press and public.

"This thing will be dissected for years, and it will be in the training syllabus forever," he said.

Cangelosi told BI that "a lot of people talk and things just travel" within the agency after an event of this magnitude.

"We all want answers, and we want them as quickly as possible, but it's it's going to take some time," Cangelosi said. "You know the Secret Service; they're professionals. Mistakes are made, they're going to remedy them."

• The Secret Service is facing tough questions after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
• The powerful agency has rocked by scandals in recent years.
• Security breaches and embarrassing indiscretions have occurred.

The Secret Service has been at the center of scandals in recent years.

Jaw-dropping breaches and embarrassing indiscretions ended the careers of some agents and led lawmakers to harangue top officials.

But all of those episodes pale to what will happen after Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a shocking breach that was an inch from utter disaster.

Trump was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman — later identified as a 20-year-old man from the area — opened fire at the former president.

Trump's ear was pierced by a bullet; a rallygoer near the president was killed before Secret Service agents shot and killed the would-be assassin.

Trump, President Joe Biden, and scores of other leaders praised the Secret Service for its quick response.

But already, it is becoming clear that the agency's task with keeping the president, former president, and other world leaders when they are in the US safe will face intense scrutiny.

As closely scrutinized as the agency has been, nothing has prepared it for what is likely to come.

Biden himself said Sunday he's ordered an independent investigation into the rally shooting.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson, the nation's most powerful Republican, quickly vowed that Congress would conduct a full investigation into what happened.

Lawmakers and experts alike have been shocked how the shooter was able to get close enough to the rally site that it was within shooting range.

"The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation's history cannot be understated," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. "No assassination attempt has come so close to taking the life of a president or presidential candidate since President Reagan was shot in 1981." (The Secret Service is under the Homeland Security Department.)

The past scandals can also shed some light on some of the biggest issues plaguing the agency: shocking security lapses.

Agents went wild while in Colombia for a presidential visit, including hiring prostitutes.

What happened: In April 2012, several Secret Service agents preparing for President Obama's visit to Colombia as part of the Summit of the Americas hired prostitutes.

The scandal rocked the agency to its core. President Obama, who repeatedly expressed his admiration for agents' bravery, said at the time he would be "angry" if the allegations were proved to be true.

The aftermath: Of the 13 agents suspected of soliciting prostitutes, six resigned or retired, according to an inspector general's report released roughly a year after the incident.

Four more had their security clearances revoked. The inspector general found that although individuals engaged in misconduct, there was no evidence "misconduct is widespread in USSS."

Journalist Carol D. Leonnig, who won a Pultizer Prize for her coverage of the Secret Service's scandals, later called into question the finding that Colombia episode was just a one-off incident.

"And in fact, what agents told me in the wake of this series of investigations, what they told me was this happened all the time," Leonnig later told NPR.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, who retired not long after the scandal, testified to Congress that some of his agents "did some really dumb things."

A knife-wielding intruder makes it all the way into the East Room.

What happened: In September 2014, Omar J. Gonzalez, who was carrying a knife, jumped the fence and got into the White House. President Barack Obama was not home at the time of the incident. Gonzalez only made it into the White House briefly, but his actions came on the heels of 16 separate fence-jumping incidents in the five years before his brazen act, according to The New York Times.

The aftermath: Secret Service Director Julia Pierson was already embattled before the incident. In a separate scandal, an armed security contractor had gotten onto an elevator with Obama. The combined weight of the scandals led Pierson to resign.

Two Secret Service agents, who had 'likely' been drinking, crashed a car on the White House grounds.

What happened: In March 2015, two Secret Service agents crashed a car on the White House grounds while the complex was under a heightened security state to investigate a suspicious package. Both agents were high-ranking, including Marc Connolly, the Deputy Special Agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division (PPD.

Among Connolly's responsibilities was handling "all aspects of White House security."

Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth, a government watchdog, later concluded "it was more likely than not" that the agents' "judgment was impaired by alcohol." Roth's report found that the agents had attended a retirement party and run up quite the tab at a Washington, DC, bar before the incident. Neither of the agents alerted their supervisors of what happened. Both of the agents denied in their interviews with the inspector general that they had drank to excess.

The aftermath: Connolly announced his retirement ahead of the release of the inspector general's report. George Ogilvie, the assistant special agent in charge of the agency's Washington field office, was placed on administrative leave, according to The Guardian.

White House fencer jumper wanders the grounds for more than 15 minutes.

What happened: In March 2017, Jonathan T. Tran scaled multiple fences and was able to approach the White House's south portico just before midnight. President Donald Trump was asleep inside the residence at the time. Tran also looked into windows. Secret Service later apprehended him. He had cans of mace on him.

The aftermath: According to CNN, two Secret Service officers were fired after the incident. Tran had set off multiple alarms before he was discovered. A White House security review was also conducted. Before the breach, the Secret Service had already announced efforts to beef up the fence around the White House, including adding small spikes atop a six-foot fence, according to The Washington Post.

The Secret Service caught wind of threats before January 6.

What happened: According to the House January 6 committee, the Secret Service was among the federal agencies that received warnings that the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were planning for potential violence on January 6, 2021, during the joint session of Congress that was responsible for formally counting the Electoral College votes for the 2020 presidential election.

Agents were also praised for how they kept Vice President Mike Pence safe as rioters ransacked the Capitol. Pence declined to leave the Capitol complex, which his security detail advised him to do.

The aftermath: After the deadly attack on the Capitol, the Secret Service was also criticized after lawmakers asked for text messages sent around the time of the riot — which the agency said had been deleted.

The Secret Service denied any wrongdoing.

• Shots were fired at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, killing at least two people.
• Tech CEOs and billionaires are condemning the shooting, with some voicing their support for Trump.
• Billionaires Mark Cuban and Elon Musk, who have feuded over political views, denounced the shooting.

Prominent tech CEOs and billionaires condemned the shooting at a Trump rally on Saturday, with some voicing their support for former President Donald Trump.

At least two people, including the suspected shooter, were killed on Saturday after shots were fired at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from the Secret Service. Two other rally attendees were critically injured, the agency said.

The shooting immediately drew reactions from top lawmakers, the Biden administration, and business leaders across the political spectrum.

Here are some of their reactions:

Mark Cuban

Billionaire Mark Cuban, who has voiced support for President Joe Biden for a second term, wrote on X in the hour of the shooting that he hoped "the former president is Ok and no one else was injured."

"And let's hope they catch the idiot who did this. This is not the way," Cuban wrote. "And thank you to the Secret Service who put themselves in harms way to protect the former President."

Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has feuded with Cuban over hot-button political issues, chose the moment to announce his endorsement of Trump. Musk previously said he would avoid financially backing a 2024 candidate, but Bloomberg recently reported that he donated to a pro-Trump super PAC.

"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote on X.

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg similarly said on Threads that he is praying for a "quick recovery for President Trump."

Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who typically prefers to maintain some semblance of neutrality and diplomacy in US politics, condemned the shooting.

"I pray for President Trump's rapid recovery. My thoughts are with him, the other victims and the Trump family. I strongly condemn this violence," he wrote on X.

Jeff Bezos

In his first post on X in early nine months, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wrote that Trump "showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight."

"So thankful for his safety and so sad for the victims and their families," Bezos wrote.

Satya Nadella

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, called the incident on X a "horrific event" and said "there is simply no place for any type of violence in our society."

Sundar Pichai

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet, wrote on X that he wished the former president a "speedy recovery." He added that political violence is "intolerable" and that everyone should come together to oppose it.

Sam Altman

In a brief statement on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote: "very glad President Trump is safe!"

Andy Jassy

Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, also expressed shock at the shooting, saying it was "hard to digest" and "awful."

Marc Benioff

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who hasn't publicly endorsed a 2024 candidate but was optimistic about his company's prospects regardless of the election outcome, wrote on X that he wished a quick recovery for Trump and condemned "political violence."

"A full and speedy recovery to President Trump. May his body be healed, his mind be soothed, and his soul be comforted. May he be blessed with strength and courage, and return to health soon. There is no room in our country for political violence," he wrote.

Marc Andreessen

Marc Andreessen, cofounder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, posted a cryptic image of an American flag on X following the incident. He has yet to publicly endorse a 2024 candidate but has been critical of the Biden Administration.

Brian Chesky

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement posted on X that he was "thankful President Trump wasn't seriously injured."

Pat Gelsinger

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger wrote on X that the shooting had made for a "very difficult night for our nation." He said he was relieved to hear that the former president was "in good spirits" and denounced violence.

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, wrote on X, "Assassination is not only categorically wrong, but is also the assassination of democracy."

He wished the former president a quick recovery. He also criticized some of Trump's rhetoric, writing, "When he warns against consequences of him losing the election, he should not predict a 'bloodbath' in a way that might incite future protesters to violence against his political opponents."

Bill Ackman

Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, wrote on X hours after the shooting that he was endorsing Trump for president. Ackman said he would write a long post to explain his thinking.

David Sacks

The venture capitalist David Sacks reaffirmed his support for the former president, writing on X, "There's not a braver man in America than Donald Trump."

• Mark Cuban says scammers are out and trying their luck after the Trump rally shooting.
• Tragic events often make it easy for bad actors to "make things worse and grift," Cuban said.
• Cuban reposted a thread by AI startup founder Josh Olin, which listed several fundraising scams on X.

Billionaire "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban is warning people to be careful of scams and grifts in the wake of the shooting in Pennsylvania that saw former President Donald Trump wounded and one man killed.

"I know some people may say it's not the right time to share this. But, I don't think anyone disagrees that there are a lot of bots and fake accounts on social media," Cuban wrote on X on Sunday.

"When tragedy and horrific events like the assassination attempt on former President Trump happens, it brings out these accounts to make things worse and grift," he added.

Cuban was commenting on a Sunday thread from X user Josh Olin, founder of AI firm WeGPT.ai. In his X thread, Olin said he'd found multiple instances of scammers posting fake fundraising pages for people hurt in the Trump rally shooting.

The billionaire declined to comment.

There is a Trump-backed GoFundMe fundraiser for victims of the rally shooting, which raised over $1 million within hours.

"This Trump attack has already profited scammers, largely sponsored by China and Russia, millions from various grifts right here on X," Olin wrote on Sunday.

Cuban, for his part, praised Olin, saying that he'd done a "good job" identifying some scammers who were trying to profit from tragedy.

Cuban, who has publicly backed President Joe Biden for a second term, wrote on X that after the shooting, he was glad Trump was safe.

"And let's hope they catch the idiot who did this. This is not the way," Cuban wrote right after news of the shooting broke on Saturday evening. "And thank you to the Secret Service who put themselves in harms way to protect the former President."

Trump was seen ducking for cover after gunshots were fired at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The former president then emerged from cover with blood on his face and was seen pumping his fist in the air defiantly before being ushered off the rally stage.

The 20-year-old suspect in Saturday's assassination attempt has been named.

A man killed in the shooting has also been identified as Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief.

President Joe Biden on Sunday said that he has ordered an independent investigation into the security for the rally where a shooter attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

"I've directed an independent review of the national security of yesterday's rally, and we will share the results of that independent review as well," he said on Sunday afternoon.

Biden reiterated his gratitude for the Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officers "who risked their lives, literally, for our nation."

There will also be a review of the security plan for the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday. Both the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have said that the party's major event will still go on as planned.

Biden said he had a "short but good conversation" with Trump.

"I'm sincerely grateful that he is doing well and is recovering," Biden told reporters. "Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers."

The president also extended his condolences to Corey Comperatore, who was killed while shielding his family after shots rang out at the Trump rally. Biden did not identify Comperatore by name but said that "he was a father; he was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired."

Biden pledged that he would address the question of national unity, a topic that has been brought up in the wake of the heinous attack, during an address to the nation later Sunday evening.

Keeping with the moment's weight, the president will speak from the Oval Office.

"Unity is the most elusive goal of all," Biden said, pledging "we are not going to lose sight of who we are as Americans."

• Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman endorsed Donald Trump for president on Saturday.
• Ackman's announcement on X came hours after an assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania.
• Ackman assured Biden supporters that he hadn't "lost it" and came to the decision carefully.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has officially come out in support of former president Donald Trump's re-election campaign, following an assassination attempt at a Trump rally on Saturday.

"I am going to formally endorse @realDonaldTrump," Ackman wrote on X on Saturday night. "I came to this decision some time ago as many @X followers have already understood from my supportive posts of Trump and my criticisms of @POTUS Biden."

Ackman's endorsement came just hours after Trump was shot at during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. One spectator was killed, two more were critically injured, and the Secret Service fatally shot the shooter.

Video footage of the event shows Trump, clutching his bloody ear, and ducking for cover, before Secret Service rushed him off stage.

Ackman reiterated that his decision to support Trump was not a temporary lapse of judgement spurred by the sudden attack, but the product of careful reflection. He also said he believed the upcoming election will be one of the most consequential of his life.

"Today, when one announces an intention to support Trump, Biden supporters who know me tend to assume that I have lost it, he wrote. "I assure you that I have made this decision carefully, rationally, and by relying on as much empirical data as possible."

He also said he has recently spent several hours with Trump and had some firsthand observations to share.

Ackman said he has a much longer post in the works that will detail his reasons for backing Trump.

For now, Ackman defended his decision by taking aim at the mainstream media — which, he contended, hasn't covered Trump with objectivity.

"Remember, media organizations are like sports teams that run plays chosen by their owners and executed by the coaches they hire," Ackman wrote. "They are not unbiased arbiters of the truth."

• The victim of the shooting at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania campaign rally is Corey Comperatore. 
• Comperatore's family members paid tribute to him with social media posts on Sunday.
• His sister said Comperatore shielded his daughters from gunfire.

The victim of the shooting at former President Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally has been identified as a loving father and husband who protected his family from gunfire.

Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed while he shielded his wife and daughters, his family said, calling "this terrible nightmare … our painful reality."

"The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most. He was a hero that shielded his daughters. His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable," Dawn Comperatore Schafer posted on Facebook. "My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of Comperatore, whose wife called him a "girl dad" in a conversation with the governor.

"Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community and most especially, Corey loved his family. Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community," Shapiro said at a press conference. "Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally. Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing."

Comperatore was the former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Photos and videos showed the disturbing moment that gunfire erupted during the Butler, Pennslyvania, rally as Trump addressed his audience.

The FBI identified a 20-year-old from nearby Bethel Park as the shooting suspect. The suspect was killed by the Secret Service.

Trump later said he was shot in his right ear, and two other rallygoers were critically injured. The FBI is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt.

• Mike Johnson denounced the tenor of political rhetoric in the US following the Trump rally shooting.
• "We've got to turn the temperature down in this country," the speaker said Sunday on NBC's "Today."
• Johnson described the assassination attempt of Trump as "a horrific act of political violence."

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday strongly condemned the shooting at former President Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally Saturday evening, decrying the "horrific" violence that occurred while also urging political leaders to "turn the rhetoric down."

During an interview on NBC's "Today," the Louisiana Republican lamented what he described as a "surreal" experience for Americans as one of the country's major-party presidential candidates just hours earlier was targeted in an assassination attempt.

"This is a horrific act of political violence. It ought to be roundly condemned," he said. "Obviously, we can't go on like this as a society."

Trump on Saturday was speaking to supporters when gunshots rang out at his rally, and the former president was subsequently swarmed by members of the Secret Service.

The former president emerged from the assassination attempt with a bloodied ear.

Trump in a post on his Truth Social account wrote that a bullet had "pierced the upper part" of his right ear and thanked the agents who came to his aid during the incident.

Johnson, a political ally of Trump, said hours after the shooting that the House would hold a "full investigation" into the events surrounding Saturday's shooting. The lawmaker added that officials from the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI would be called to speak before Congress over the incident.

The speaker on Sunday also addressed the deep political divide in the US, which has seemingly grown wider as the expected general election rematch between President Joe Biden and Trump quickly approaches.

"We've got to turn the rhetoric down," Johnson said. "We've got to turn the temperature down in this country."

"We need leaders of all parties, on both sides, to call that out and make sure that happens so that we can go forward and maintain our free society that we all are blessed to have," he added.

President Joe Biden on Saturday strongly denounced the shooting and later that night spoke with Trump.

"There's no place in America for this kind of violence," the president said. "It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this."

In the 2020 election, a major goal in Biden's platform was to unify the country, especially after the tough campaign that year.

But after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, a 2022 midterm cycle which saw both Democrats and Republicans tussle over the issue of defending democracy, and an already tumultuous 2024 presidential campaign, divisions within the US remain raw.

• Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art seemingly hung fake Pablo Picasso paintings in an exhibition.
• Kirsha Kaechele, the museum's curator, said she made the paintings herself.
• Reactions to the stunt have been mixed, with some labeling it "brilliant" and others saying she had taken "people for fools."

An art museum in Australia that was embroiled in a gender dispute involving several "Picasso" paintings has admitted that the works were fake.

The paintings had been at the center of a gender battle that broke out after a man from the Australian state of New South Wales took legal action against the gallery after being refused entry to the museum's "Ladies Lounge" exhibition.

Kirsha Kaechele, the museum's curator, previously told Guardian Australia that the men's "experience of rejection is the artwork" and that she was "absolutely delighted" that the case had gone to court.

The exhibition contained some of the museum's most notable artworks, including some said to have been produced by the Spanish Cubist Pablo Picasso.

After a court ruled that the exhibition violated the state's Anti-Discrimination Act and that "persons who do not identify as ladies" must be allowed entry, Kaechele made headlines after she moved several of the supposed Picassos, which had hung in the exhibition for more than three years, to a female toilet cubicle.

But in a blog post on the museum's website on Wednesday, Kaechele said that the works, which included a copy of "Luncheon on the Grass, After Manet," had, in fact, been painted by herself.

"I knew of a number of Picasso paintings I could borrow from friends, but none of them were green and I wished for the Lounge to be monochrome. I also had time working against me, not to mention the cost of insuring a Picasso—exorbitant!" Kaechele wrote.

She then said she eventually decided to make the paintings with her "own hands and the (perfectly shellacked) hands of my manicurist's niece, who is far more competent in pen and ink and thus assisted with the etching."

Comments below the blog post show mixed reactions, with some labeling the stunt "brilliant and brave" while others said she was "trying to take people for fools."

Art expert Christopher Heathcote told the Guardian that he thought "the entire episode is childish, unprofessional, and reflects poorly on Mona."

"What is being passed off as an art activist statement is the standard excuse used for attention-seeking sensationalism," Heathcote added.

The forgery prompted a reevaluation of other works displayed in the Ladies Lounge, and Kaechele revealed that some other items were also not genuine.

Kaechele admitted that a "mink rug" supposedly made by "Princess Mary's royal furrier" was actually made of low-grade polyester, and some pieces of "precious" jewelry were made of plastic.

Kaechele signed off her blog post by apologizing to the Picasso Administration.

Business Insider contacted Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art for comment.

It's not the first time that the Australian art world has made headlines this year.

Reports emerged in May that Australia's richest woman had made multiple approaches to the country's national gallery to try to get an unflattering portrait of her taken down.

Gina Rinehart's attempts to remove the painting, which was made by renowned Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira, backfired spectacularly, with news outlets around the world picking up the story and sharing images of the work.