Shocking new video of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump shows local police with guns drawn surrounding the building where suspect Thomas Crooks opened fire two minutes and ten seconds before the shot was fired.
The video then shows the crowd’s reaction to the gunfight that followed, followed by Crooks being shot dead by Secret Service agents, with one witness commenting that he must have been shot in the head because he had a “big bush of hair.”
As the video progresses, Trump can be heard in the background addressing the crowd at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, but no attempt is made to remove him from the stage.
The video, posted to X by user realDJStew724, was filmed on the foundations of the AGR International factory, and shows Crooks perched on top of the plant, pointing an AR-15 rifle at the former president.
“Right now this whole f***ing building has f***ing police surrounding it,” said a woman standing nearby, completely unaware of the danger looming as officers moved around the building and Trump continued to speak at the rally behind them.
After two minutes and 10 seconds of tense action with bystanders telling each other to “stay small,” someone yells “He’s got a gun!” and a loud explosion is heard, followed shortly by gunfire and the sound of bullets whizzing overhead.
The volley ended with one final shot, and bystanders crouched for cover tried to make sense of what had happened.
“Did they shoot him dead?” the cameraman asked someone nearby.
“Yeah, I saw that big bushy hair fly up in the air. They were aiming for Trump’s head. Big bushy hair,” one man replied, as cheers erupted from the rally behind him and Trump rose to his feet, covered in blood, pumping his fist.
What we know about the attempted assassination of President Trump
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks has been identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent.
- The gunman grazed President Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old former fire chief and wounded two other people at the rally.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he sought out dates for speeches by President Trump and the Democratic National Convention.
- FBI officials said the criminal’s search history also revealed a broad interest in famous people and celebrities, regardless of political affiliation.
- “I was supposed to be dead,” Trump told The Washington Post exclusively at the rally, describing how he survived the “surreal” assassination attempt.
- Prominent politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it a “heinous, horrific and despicable act.”
It’s unclear how long police had surrounded the building before Dave began filming, but a law enforcement source told The Washington Post that 25 to 30 seconds passed between when local officers confronted Crooks on the building’s roof and when Crooks opened fire.
Authorities previously said Crooks pointed a rifle at a Butler Township police officer, who backed away.
New details suggest that Trump had time to be removed from the stage before the gunfire, but details from a congressional investigation into the shooting say that the Secret Service and local police were unable to communicate with each other that day, making it unclear whether agents guarding Trump knew in advance that there was a shooter on the roof.
James Gagliano, a former FBI special agent and SWAT team leader, told The Washington Post that how police responded during those 30 seconds, and possibly the two-plus minutes captured on video, could play a central role in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the rally because it could expose flaws in the communications protocols the Secret Service had in place that day.
Here is the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump:
“While that may seem like a long time, 30 seconds goes by in a flash during a crisis,” Gagliano said. “We know how important and challenging it is to coordinate with agencies and departments that have never worked together before.”
“But the Secret Service is leading the charge, so ultimately the blame will fall back on them,” he added, noting that pending the conclusion of the investigation, there were many other obvious problems with the day that he called a “fiasco.”
Other shortcomings include the fact that the roof Crooks climbed on – 130 yards from Trump’s podium – was completely unsecured, and the fact that police noticed Crooks’ suspicious behavior about 100 minutes before the shooting but failed to intervene.
Police failed to investigate Crooks’ drone survey of the rally about two hours before the event, which may have led to the discovery of a rifle, 50 rounds of ammunition, an improvised explosive device and a ladder hidden in his car parked nearby.
FBI expert Gagliano called the drone fiasco “an easy problem to solve” and said security agencies should have investigated it regardless of how common drones are today.
“Always assume the worst case scenario and work backwards from there. Always assume the worst case scenario. Make sure every eventuality that can happen is mitigated and fully thought out.”
“In the business world we call this cascading systems failure: One thing happens, which leads to another, which leads to another,” he added. “And that’s how bad things start.”
