Hindsight is always 20/20. And in hindsight, it seems like every day we get a modern revelation about what went wrong on July 13, 2024, that caused a newborn, inexperienced man—a boy, actually—to literally come within a whisker of killing former President Donald Trump.
On Monday it came to lithe that the assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks Attention of local law enforcement authorities more than 90 minutes before Crooks fired the shots that injured Trump and two bystanders and killed local firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died protecting his family.
Donald Trump’s potential assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, landed on the authorities’ radar more than 90 minutes before his death. opened fire on the former president’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania – about half an hour longer than authorities previously stated – according to newly released text messages.
Text messages between members of the Beaver County Emergency Service Unit received from the New York Times revealed a more concrete – and earlier – timeline that led to the shooting that grazed the former president’s ear, two rally participants injured and killed one.
The news also revealed that Crooks, 20, was aware of the police presence while he was preparing his assassination attempt on the Republican candidate.
“Someone followed our example and parked next to our cars, just so you know,” one sniper texted a colleague as he drove off at around 4:26 p.m.
And it gets even better: The shooter is now known not to have used a ladder, but to have climbed onto an air conditioning unit and then crossed several roofs before arriving at the crime scene. where he fired the shots.
The FBI told reporters Monday morning that potential Trump assassin Thomas Crooks climbed to the roof of a building near former President Trump on July 13. Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, by climbing up HVAC equipment and piping.
Crooks then traversed several rooftops before finding his firing position on the roof of an American Glass Research (AGR) building, which is located near the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, about 450 feet (137 meters) from where the former president had spoken at his rally.
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Then there is this.
Over the next hour, law enforcement officers identified a building of interest and snipers took photos of Crooks and his bicycle abandoned near the rally site. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who was briefed on the assassination attempt, previously told Fox News Digital that a sniper had “his eye” on the suspect about 20 minutes before Crooks began shooting.
This raises several questions. It is not clear whether the snipers recognized that Crooks was carrying a weapon, although later photographs of Crooks after he was shot by a Secret Service marksman (we will not reproduce those photos here) indicate that he was not wearing bulky clothing that would have allowed him to conceal a rifle. If he was identified as someone with a rifle on that rooftop within striking distance of a former President of the United States, why did the Secret Service not immediately engage him?
18 U.S. Code § 3056 defines the powers and authorities of the U.S. Secret Service. It does not prescribe rules of engagement for intelligence officials, nor would we expect the legislation to do so; those rules are set at the agency level. A cursory search of the Secret Service website has not announced any such rules of engagement. But you would think that someone identified as a clear threat – a man on a roof with a rifle within reach of a protected person – would elicit a, shall we say, more forceful response.
We don’t have the full story on this incident yet, but stay tuned; as always, we here at RedState will be following developments and will update you as needed.
