Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – A former Secret Service agent and security expert said Thomas Matthew Crooks likely scouted the Butler Farms rally and meticulously planned the attack before his failed attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump at the rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“It’s clear that the perpetrator was working on a target prior to this incident,” said Bill Gage, now a consultant with the Safe Haven Security Group.
“[Arthur] Bremer, [Lee Harvey] Oswald and [John] “Hinkley, they’ve all scouted before,” he added, referring to the men who attacked Presidents Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, respectively.
Law enforcement sources said Crooks, 20, was carrying a rangefinder and acting suspiciously when he appeared “inside or just outside” the venue on Saturday before former President Donald Trump took the stage. Other evidence uncovered Tuesday included Crooks purchasing ammunition hours before the rally, and that Crooks had also purchased a ladder at Home Depot, confirmed by Fox News.
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Authorities approached the spot where the suspected gunman fell after the U.S. Secret Service returned fire during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. (Source: Fox News Digital)
“He knew there were high areas, like buildings in the distance, that he needed a ladder to get there,” Gage told Fox News Digital. “Although he reportedly did not use a ladder, this purchase suggests there was some pre-planning involved.”
Crooks said he knew he needed a rifle, not a handgun. The gunman packed explosives in his car and brought a bulletproof vest with him but did not wear it when he climbed onto the roof, possibly to avoid detection, Gage said.
“It’s clear that the perpetrator was heading towards the target prior to the incident.”
Instead of using a ladder, Crooks climbed onto the roof by climbing an air conditioning unit. ABC News I reported it earlier.
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“But the purchase of a ladder is quite significant,” he added. “Sometime between the announcement of the event and Trump taking the stage, he scouted the location and decided his best bet would be to launch a rifle attack from the roof.”
David Katz, a former DEA special agent and federal firearms instructor who is now CEO of Global Security Group, said the rangefinder Crooks had with him was also evidence of his preparation.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump suffered a bullet wound during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and was hurriedly escorted off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“You can tell this kid not only practiced, but he knew how to aim the rifle at that distance and expected angle,” he told Fox News Digital. “He knew the exact distance to the target and the angle above or below, and all he had to do was turn the dial.”
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Kimberly Cheatle, director of the US Secret Service, acknowledged that Crooks had been called a “potential suspect” even before the assassination attempt.
She said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday. secret Service The building where Crooks took up a sniper position to shoot Trump was known to have security vulnerabilities, but the decision was made not to station personnel on the roof.
Crooks then climbed up with his AR-15, took up position and began firing.
An undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks is the alleged gunman behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Source: Fox News Digital)
Experts and casual observers say the failure to secure the rooftop within view of the former president was a stunning security blunder.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Sean Parnell, an Army veteran and former congressional candidate from the area, who was near Trump’s stage when the shooting began. “My 11-year-old son said, ‘How could you get that close to that building?'”
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Authorities said Crooks killed 50-year-old father-of-two Cory Comperatore and severely injured 57-year-old David Duch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver. Crooks struck the former president in the right ear.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at the highest point, so, you know, for safety reasons, you don’t want to have people on a sloped roof, so the decision was made to protect the building from the inside,” Mr Cheatle told ABC.
Authorities said a Secret Service counter-sniper “neutralized” Crooks at the scene, and images showed him dead on a rooftop less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking.
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WPXI has obtained photos of suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cell phone and a transmitter that was left near his body following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. (WPXI)
Video first obtained by Fox News shows chaotic scenes inside the security perimeter, with officers trapped on opposite sides of a metal fence as they try to reach the shooter’s location.
Sources previously told Fox News Digital that an initial suspicious witness report of Crooks carrying a rangefinder before the shooting was reported to Pennsylvania State Police but was “ignored.”
The PSP responded by sending dozens of officers to help secure the rally at the request of the Secret Service, but said they were not responsible for guarding the building or surrounding grounds used by Crooks. County officials also said they were initially hired to help with traffic patrols and did not know who was assigned to guard the building.
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Police officers stand near the body of attempted assassin Thomas Crooks of President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The gunman killed at least one person and wounded the former president in the assassination attempt. (Todd the Driller)
According to sources, Crooks was seen without a rifle about 30 minutes before the shooting, which led local police to think he was suspicious enough to report him and take photos, leading to speculation that he might have been carrying binoculars to get a better view of the rally.
Crooks then reportedly disappeared from sight, presumably to retrieve his weapon.
of Department of Homeland Security The inspector general later announced an investigation into the Secret Service’s handling of security at the event.
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Authorities say Crooks has no criminal history and no record of mental illness. The murder weapon was legally purchased by his father in 2013.
The federal investigation into his motives and potential collaborators is ongoing, with the FBI analyzing his laptop, cellphone and rifle and interviewing dozens of witnesses.
File photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. Crooks is the alleged gunman behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Source: Fox News Digital)
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A search of the suspect’s home and vehicle concluded Sunday night. The FBI also said it had interviewed about 100 witnesses, including law enforcement officials, by Monday afternoon.
If you have any information about this incident, http://tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Fox News’ Greg Norman, Audrey Conklin, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
