Newly made public text messages and surveillance reports reveal major miscommunications ahead of former President Donald J. Trump‘s near-assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The messages indicate law enforcement knew of Thomas Matthew Crooks 90 minutes before he opened fire on the America First leader, injuring him and two other rallygoers and killing Corey Comperatore. This is significantly earlier than previously indicated, with Congress hearing the authorities were aware of Crooks for only 60 minutes during evidence-gathering hearings.
At 4:19 PM, a counter-sniper texted comrades to inform them his shift was ending, saying, “Guys, I am out. Be safe.” At 4:26 PM, he texted that he had identified a stringy-haired man outside the rally area, possibly with a rifle, as potentially threatening—but still left his post.
By 5:10 PM, the stringy-haired man, who turned out to be Crooks, had come closer to the rally site, and counter-snipers were taking pictures of him and sharing them in a group chat.
By 5:38 PM, counter-snipers saw Crooks using a rangefinder, but they did not monitor him consistently due to a lack of personnel. “I did see him with a rangefinder looking towards the stage. FYI. If you wanna notify [Secret Service] snipers to look out, I lost sight of him,” reads one remarkably nonchalant text.
Rallygoers spotted Crooks on the roof from which he opened fire on Trump as the former president took to the stage at 6:03 PM. However, he was still there at 6:11 PM, when he took the first of up to eight shots.
Almost 20 minutes after the assassination attempt, law enforcement still seemed clueless as to what had happened, with body-worn camera footage showing one on-the-ground officer saying, “So, on TV, they’re saying Trump was shot at, and he got hit, but I don’t believe that.”
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