New images were released Friday showing the would-be assassin of President Donald Trump sitting against a wall and staring at his phone, showing the moments before he attempted to kill the former president.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was photographed sitting against a wall in a grassy area at Butler Farm Show Grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, waiting for Trump, 78, to take to the stage.
Aerial photos showed Crooks, 20, scrolling through his cell phone, which was found next to a remote transmitter after he was killed by return fire from a Secret Service sniper.
The shooter is pictured wearing the same grey influencer-branded shirt seen in the only photo of Crooks shortly before the shooting, which killed former Fire Chief Corey Comperatore, 50, and critically injured David Duch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.
New Image It was published by Judicial Watch on Saturday.Documents were also submitted detailing how local police were deployed in preparation for the rally.
Shortly after the snapshot was taken, Crooks clambered onto the top of a nearby building, grabbed his rifle and crawled to his final position, ready to fire.
The killer had been under police surveillance long before the assassination attempt: a local police officer had taken two photographs of a “suspicious individual” looking for the best place to fire.
Officers spotted Crooks using a rangefinder and looking at his phone about an hour before Trump took the stage, an encounter that may have sparked the newly released photos.
Despite the suspicions, Crooks pulled a gun and fired eight shots at Trump before killing him.
The gunman narrowly avoided hitting Trump, instead hitting the former president in the ear with shrapnel.
More than a month has passed since the shooting, but the gunman’s motive remains unclear.
