Butler, Pennsylvania – An Air Force veteran who attended former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 said he noticed obvious security issues before the assassination attempt by suspect Thomas Crooks that left one person dead and two seriously injured.
Sarah Taylor, an 18-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, told Fox News Digital that she was initially excited to attend her first Trump rally, but once she and a friend took positions about 100 yards from where the president was speaking, she couldn’t help but notice the “eerie” building behind them.
“The fence was there, and right behind us was the building where the shooter was,” she recalled. “It was really creepy, and my spider-sense kicked in, so we talked about it a lot. I was in the military for 18 years, and I always felt like something was off about that area.”
She noticed local and state police roaming the plaza outside the American Glass Research (AGR) building where Crooks ultimately shot his victim, but no officers were on the roof.
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Sarah Taylor, an Air Force veteran, said she witnessed glaring security lapses at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Handouts)
“We were just looking around thinking, ‘Something’s wrong,'” Taylor said. “… I’m used to looking around. I was deployed overseas so I knew something was wrong.”
“There was a big void in that area.”
Taylor said he could see straight on the president and also saw a “sniper” to his left.
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Sarah Taylor said she was watching former President Trump speak at the July 13 rally when she saw a “sniper” to her left. (Sarah Taylor)
“At some point, I don’t know what time it was, [Trump] We were supposed to talk at 5 o’clock, but we didn’t talk until 6. So just before 5 o’clock, I realized [the sharpshooters] “I got up and angled myself up. And there was a sniper standing to the right of the gentleman with the gun. I think he was a lookout, he had binoculars, and he kind of saw something.”
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“Before that… they were just setting things up like that, but then something seemed to grab their attention,” she said.
“[T]There was something that captured their attention.”
Since the assassination attempt, lawmakers and FBI Director Christopher Wray have confirmed that police spotted Crooks at about 5:10 pm that day — the time Trump was scheduled to speak but an hour before he actually took the stage. The sniper took a photo of Crooks and called commanders on the suspicious activity just before 6 pm.
The Butler Farm Show, the site of a campaign rally for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is photographed in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday, July 15, 2024. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at a rally on July 13. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Taylor thought at the time that she may have just been “overthinking” the situation, and now, looking back on the incident, she wonders why police never found any of the security flaws she feared.
“There should have been an anti-sniper on top of that. [AGR] “The building,” she said.
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Sarah Taylor saw local police officers walking through the plaza in front of the building where Thomas Crooks was shot on July 13. (Sarah Taylor)
Taylor also said he instructed his team to remove the teleprompter in front of him shortly after Trump began his speech, thanking Trump’s campaign production team for saving his life, before directing them to project immigration statistics onto a big screen.
Taylor recalled that as he moved his head to a screen displaying immigration statistics from a teleprompter, a gunshot rang out.
Sarah Taylor filmed officers responding after the gunman opened fire. (Sarah Taylor)
“I’m convinced that that person in that role saved his life,” Taylor said, adding that those few seconds meant the former president only suffered a cut on his ear.
“I’m sure whoever was operating that part saved his life.”
Taylor said he still hasn’t fully come to terms with the assassination attempt that killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a husband, father and former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Corps, and left 57-year-old David “Jake” Duch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver seriously injured and hospitalized.
Sarah Taylor saw local police officers walking through the plaza in front of the building where Thomas Crooks was shot on July 13. (Sarah Taylor)
“They are supposed to be the best trained in the world to protect the president and vice president,” Taylor said. “If this is their regular job, we’re in trouble.”
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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following a Monday hearing before the House Oversight Committee, Fox News’ Jackie Heinrich and Peter Doocy confirmed with sources.
Thomas Crooks attends a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Senator Ron Johnson)
Cheatle said in a sworn statement. secret Service It “failed” on July 13th.
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“As Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for our agency’s security failings,” she said. “We must find out what happened, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that an incident like what happened on July 13th never happens again.”
“Our agents, officers and support personnel understand that they are called upon to sacrifice their lives every day to execute the mission without fail,” Cheatle added.
