Pennsylvania’s state police chief revealed new details about the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Colonel Christopher Parris, superintendent of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), testified the day after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, where Cheatle drew bipartisan ire by refusing to answer nearly every question, citing the ongoing investigation.
Paris also said many questions would be addressed in the police post-mortem report, but she slowly provided new information throughout the hearing as lawmakers try to understand how 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks got onto a roof and opened fire on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Here are five new details revealed in Paris’ testimony:
Crooks was identified through unofficial channels.
Paris said Crooks was first identified as a “suspicious” person by local police after he failed to enter a secured area before the rally.
An officer, a member of Butler’s Emergency Services Unit (ESU), became concerned when he saw him using a rangefinder and decided to contact a command center overseen by the Secret Service.
“Pennsylvania State Police personnel within the command center received the information via phone call and text message, passed it on to the Secret Service, who then provided them with a phone number to follow up with,” Paris said.
When lawmakers pressed Paris on whether she knew what Secret Service agents did with the photos after they were sent to the number, she said she did not know.
The informal method of communication raised questions among committee members about why the threat assessment was not communicated through formal channels such as digital radio, and whether the text thread was the cause of the communications breakdown.
Eight shots were fired at the rally.
Responding to a question from Rep. Eric Swalwell (R-Calif.), Paris said Crooks fired eight shots into the rally before being subdued by Secret Service agents.
“I believe the number is eight,” Paris said. “Eight shell casings were recovered.”
He also said police found eight bullet casings next to Crooks’ body.
Cheatle declined to say how many shots were fired at the rally during Monday’s hearing.
Previously, police had said only that a gunman fired multiple rounds at the rally.
The policeman guarding the roof left his post.
After identifying Crooks as a suspicious person, Paris said two Butler ESU officers stationed on the second floor of the AGR building left their posts and pursued Crooks.
In videos presented at the hearing, lawmakers showed the officers’ original duties were a clear indication of the job Crooks ultimately took on.
“So to your knowledge, you’re saying that ESU officers left their window visibility to look for this individual?” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-Ill.) asked Parris.
“Yes, that’s my understanding,” Paris replied.
The roof from which Crooks fired was just about 147 yards from the former president’s podium — an easy target — but outside Secret Service coverage.
The attacker spent about three minutes on the roof.
Paris said the shooter spent about three minutes on the roof before opening fire on Trump, but cautioned there was no clear time frame.
A local police officer was lifted by another officer to approach Crooks on a roof, but was thrown to the ground when Crooks pointed a rifle at him, according to Paris and other officials.
Paris clarified previous statements suggesting it took two to three minutes for officers to confront Crooks before opening fire.
“That’s probably the total time, the total duration that he was on the roof when one of the local police officers picked up the other and then caused him to fall,” he said.
Paris said only seconds passed between the officer falling and Crooks opening fire.
Video released on the rally showed members of the crowd trying to warn police as Crooks crawled onto the roof, but it’s unclear how long Crooks was on the roof.
The Secret Service staffed each post with local police officers.
Local and state law enforcement helped provide security for the former president’s rally but had no say in the planning, even outside the rally’s secured area, and that extended to how the building where Crooks fired was covered.
Paris said members of Butler ESU who left their post to find Crooks were then assigned by the Secret Service to a post in the AGR building.
A key question from lawmakers at the hearing this week was why investigators or police officers were not stationed on the roof, despite its proximity to the stage.
“Again, I think the primary responsibility for making these decisions and developing these operational plans rests with the Secret Service,” said Patrick Yoess, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, who testified alongside Paris.
A PSP area commander who participated in the tour on July 11, two days before the rally, reported to Parris that he had warned that the rooftop Crooks had used was a potential problem, and Secret Service agents assured the commander that the area was covered by Butler’s ESU.
“I think both of you would say that the Secret Service is ultimately responsible for what happened that day,” Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) concluded.
