Would-be Trump assassin was spotted by cops twice 26 minutes before he wounded ex-prez, killed retired fire chief: report
A clear picture is emerging of the exact timeline of staggering failures that enabled an armed 20-year-old man with no military training to scale a building loaded with counter-sniper team cops in broad daylight and come within a hair’s breadth of killing former President Donald Trump.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted at least twice by cops — 26 minutes before he rained bullets on the Pennsylvania rally crowd, wounding Trump and two others and killing an ex-fire chief, according to WPXI sources.
The Beaver County Emergency Services Unit — which traveled to the Butler County, Pennsylvania, Trump rally from the neighboring Pittsburgh suburb — noticed Cooks on the roof, took a picture of him and reported it around 5:45 p.m., WPXI reported.
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Incredibly, not only did Crooks manage to avoid being confronted despite sticking out like a sore thumb, he secured his rooftop perch right under the noses of a local police sniper team stationed inside the building, law enforcement sources told The Post.
The building — the AGR International Inc. factory next to the Butler County Farm Fair grounds — was being used by local police as a “watch post” for snipers to scan for threats as the former president spoke onstage only 130 yards away, according to sources.
Cops were inside, but not on the roof, during the shooting, sources said.
Crooks was able to scale the building unchallenged before firing off up to eight shots with an AR-style assault rifle, grazing Trump in the ear, killing one Trump supporter and wounding two others.
Law enforcement sources said it was not clear as of Monday night whether any of the local officers — who were tasked with securing the perimeter outside the rally — were able to warn Secret Service agents about the gunman.
Chilling video captured at the rally illustrates the botched security operation. This includes approximately two minutes of footage that could go down in history as a low point for the Secret Service in the agency’s more than 100-year history of protecting US presidents.
A multi-feed video montage assembled by MilkBarTV, which has been viewed more than 3.5 million times on X, shows the attempted assassination play out in real time using clips from several vantage points.
In it, more than 120 excruciating seconds pass between rallygoers first spotting Crooks on the roof and the moment he fires his rifle. Perhaps most disturbingly, the people who saw the would-be assassin repeatedly tried to alert law enforcement patrolling nearby.
The surreal footage echoes what several witnesses told reporters after the shooting: Some rally attendees were aware of Crooks’ presence well before he fired.
One local cop from the Butler Township police did manage to get hoisted onto the roof, and came face to face with the gunman, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The Butler County sheriff defended his failure to stop Crooks, saying the cop was still pulling himself up and had to let go when faced with the weapon.
Law enforcement sources who have served on presidential protection details told The Post that Secret Service field offices where events are taking place routinely engage in a budgetary tug-of-war with purse string holders back in Washington.
The field offices usually get “a fraction” of what they ask for, the sources said.
Here’s the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump:
Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks visited gun range dozens of times — including Christmas — for ‘intense preparation’- Newly surfaced texts show Trump rally gunman was on authorities’ radar more than 90 minutes before shooting: report
- FBI to conduct victim interview with Donald Trump after assassination attempt
- Ex-Trump doc says FBI’s Wray is ‘wrong’ to doubt ex-prez was struck by bullet: ‘Absolutely no evidence’
- Trump defends female Secret Service agent who was criticized after assassination attempt: ‘So brave’
This means the agency has to depend on local law enforcement to supplement its resources, and small municipalities typically lack the resources of major cities like New York.
The sources said the failure in Butler could also have been because Crooks’ position on the farther side of the roof might have placed him just out of sight of the counter-sniper team stationed near Trump.
James A. Gagliano, a law enforcement analyst who served on the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team and as a senior SWAT team leader, offered some insight into the footage he’s seen of the dreaded two minutes.
“The investigation obviously just began, but when you look at a rooftop position that was accessible from the ground 130 yards away from a former president, a current presidential candidate, and someone so polarizing — is that a place that should have been covered? I would argue yes,” he said.
Gagliano said it was “absolutely a miracle” that Trump survived the attempt on his life, which was thanks in no small part to Crooks’ poor marksmanship.
A shot of 130 yards is something in the business we’d refer to as a cake shot,” he said.
“It’s something anybody with reasonable marksmanship skills can close their eyes, hold their breath, jerk the trigger and make.”
He said although he’s saving his ultimate conclusion pending the outcome of the investigation, he said he called Saturday’s debacle “a catastrophic, colossal systems failure that will be dissected for years to come.”
In the video, the two-minute timer begins with a split-screen of Trump speaking on stage and bystander footage taken near the manufacturing plant building where Crooks was perched with his rifle.
The videographer shooting the footage suddenly verbally acknowledges a nearby commotion, apparently sparked by several rally attendees noticing Crooks on the roof. “Look, they’re all pointing,” he says of the crowd’s reaction to the unusual and troubling sight.
Seconds later, the camera pans and captures what appears to be a uniformed police officer making his way around the front of the plant building where the 20-year-old gunman was hiding.
At this point, more onlookers are crowding around to gawk, chatting about what they saw. “Yeah, someone’s on top of the roof, look! There he is right there, see him? He’s laying down, see him?” the videographer asks.
“Yeah, he’s lying down,” a woman says in response.
Just before the 17-second mark, Crooks comes into frame for the first time, appearing to be lying on his right side.
By 22 seconds in, the crowd nearby is becoming more interested and is gathering closer to take a look, and the scene grows noticeably more tense.
Ten seconds later, the videographer points out Crooks to another male bystander, and at the 34-second mark, Crooks can be seen very clearly altering his position to rest on his stomach.
At this moment, with Crooks still visible in the frame and still adjusting his position, a male voice calls out, “Officer!”
An anxious-sounding woman starts giving play-by-play of what she’s witnessing, seemingly while calling out to law enforcement. “Come over here, he’s on the roof! He’s flat! Right here, he’s flat on the roof! He’s standing up now, he went flat on the roof again.”
At this point, other members of the crowd can be heard calling out as well, but their voices are indistinguishable.
At the 52-second mark, the montage shifts perspective to a single image of Trump, who is still speaking on stage. The video is barely one minute away from the shooting.
When the timer reaches 1 minute, 15 seconds, the view switches to a split-screen, both showing Trump in real time, who calls for a chart to boast about the low illegal immigration numbers under his administration compared to President Biden’s.
At a minute, 49 seconds, the camera splits into four simultaneous views — two of Trump head-on, one from behind his back, and another view of the original cameraman who noticed Crooks on the roof.
A second later, a man in what appears to be an Army uniform complete with green helmet steps into frame and appears to wave at the crowd before disappearing out of frame, walking in the opposite direction of the manufacturing plant building.
At the 1 minute, 55 second mark, a man screams, “He’s got a gun!” The camera grows increasingly unsteady, but it captures what appears to be a uniformed police officer walking toward the building where Crooks is lying.
At 2 minutes and 1 second, three distinct shots ring out and the scene erupts into chaos. As Trump hits the deck and the Secret Service swarms him, a chorus of blood-curdling screams erupts from the crowd.
At 2 minutes and 8 seconds, a series of rapid gunshots can be heard as the audience continues screaming. Then a few seconds later, a man’s voice warns, “He’s turning this way, be careful!” and a woman shrieks before one final gunshot rings out.
The camera’s focus shifts back to the roof, showing Crooks, lying motionless, his body blurred out. The gunman is dead.
