The Butler County SWAT officer who shot would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks at the July 13 Donald Trump rally in western Pennsylvania, effectively ending the attack, has been identified as the Butler County SWAT officer who shot and killed would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, effectively ending the attack. Identified. Aaron M. Zaliponi of the Adams Township Police Department.
The revelation was made in Washington, D.C. by Congressman Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana). first public hearing Member of the House Select Committee on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump.
Zaliponi quickly caught Crooks in the sights of his M4 rifle while Crooks fired an AR-15 at Trump and a crowd at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to testimony at the hearing.
Zaliponi fired his gun, known as the 9th round, and Crooks fell, preventing him from renewing his attack, but a U.S. Secret Service counter sniper fired a fatal bullet into his head.
“When you've got a target, you'll see a red dot come up. You'll see the barrel of his gun, gas coming out of the muzzle.”
“Our investigation so far has concluded that Zaliponi's 'shot number 9' affected Crooks in some way, effectively making it impossible for him to pull the trigger again,” Higgins told Blaze News after the hearing. told. “I don’t know if it hit his AR stock or his back shoulder, but it was a shock.
“Zariponi never took the red point off Crooks, and when Crooks rose from the ninth shot, with half a second left and Zaliponi was about to force Crooks into another round, the anti-sniper team of the USSS South stopped the threat. '' Higgins said.
The hearing was originally held by state police and a local Pennsylvania police officer who had been criticized by the Secret Service after President Trump was shot in the ear while speaking to tens of thousands of rally-goers at the Butler Farm Show. It was a small relief for the police.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania), the task force chairman, praised state and local police for “doing everything that was asked of them that day.”
FBI photo evidence shows damage to the stock of an AR-15-style rifle used by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks on July 13, 2024, in Butler Township, Pennsylvania.
FBI photo. Expand details with Blaze News
“I know how deeply hurt you were after that incident, because the first time someone pointed a finger at someone was local law enforcement,” said Kelly, a Butler resident. “'They didn't do their job.' The fact that you're here today is a testament to what you did that day, how you approached that day, and how you went above and beyond what you would normally do. It’s something to prove.”
Testimony and comments from many members of the special committee directly asserted that the U.S. Secret Intelligence Service was responsible for nearly killing President Trump. A preliminary report released by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on September 25 echoed the same theme.
Crooks sneaked onto the roof of the nearby American Glass Research complex and ran north to south, successfully establishing a sniper position without being detected by the Secret Service.
Shortly after 6:11 p.m., Crooks shot President Trump in the right ear, killed volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, and seriously injured bystanders David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
Mr. Higgins read excerpts from Mr. Zaliponi's interview transcribed by task force investigators.
You will hear the first three notes. “Crack, crack, crack.” At this point, you're like, “Okay, where am I?” When I looked up, I saw the impostor. I grabbed his head and shoulders. I saw a rifle. Then I hear another crack. That's when I start raising my weapon. He will be deducted 3 points. As you capture your target, you'll see a red dot rise and see gas being released from his barrel, muzzle.
Shortly after, I heard his fifth shot go off. Right after that I pressed one and he went down right away. When I say “depressed” I didn't mean he was ducking out of the way. I mean, I know I hit him. There's no doubt about that.
He stepped back and jerked a little to the right. Then he slowly collapsed and slowly rolled backwards out of my sight. So there was no second shot at that point. At that point, he tries to recover. Seconds later, the Secret Service fires the killing shot from a different vantage point, a higher vantage point.
Zaliponi, 45, is one of two sergeants at the 18-officer Adams Township Police Department in Mars, Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Army National Guard from Pennsylvania, including 2009 Iraq tour.
Higgins said Zaliponi was behind the bleachers northeast of the stage when he noticed a commotion on the AGR grounds and heard a voice on the radio about a man on the roof.
Sergeant Edward Lentz, Butler County Emergency Services Unit Commander, Adams Township Police Department. Butler Township Police Department Patrolman Drew Blasko. Lieutenant John Herold of the Pennsylvania State Police. and former U.S. secret agent Patrick Sullivan testified at the first hearing of the Select Committee on the Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump on September 26, 2024.Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“He left his position and ran to a position where he thought if there was a shooter or someone on the roof he might be able to shoot,” Higgins said.
Edward Lentz, also a sergeant with the Adams Township Police Department who was in command of the Butler County Emergency Services SWAT team on July 13, told the panel that Zaliponi's shot was “on target. '' he said with confidence.
“Well then, sir. That's not impossible.”
“When the gunshots rang out, he was able to immediately identify where they were coming from,” Lentz said. “He observed the shooter, shouldered the rifle, acquired the target, and fired one shot at the shooter, causing the shooter to back away and momentarily disappear from view.
“He did this less than six seconds after he started firing,” Lentz said. “A 5.56 caliber short-barreled M4 platform rifle was used with an Eotec sight at a distance of approximately 110 yards.”
In his Aug. 15 preliminary report on the assassination attempt, Higgins said Crooks may have “broken a bone” and injured his shoulder when the bullet Zaliponi fired hit the butt of his AR-15 rifle. He said he thinks there is.
At a Sept. 26 hearing, Higgins told the coroner who performed Crooks' autopsy that what doctors described as a single gunshot wound to the head that caused Crooks' death was 2. I asked if it could have been caused by the bullet being fired.
“Are you saying that there is no way that shot number 9 could have penetrated Crooks and that there was no way to know because it was in the same wound that was further affected by shot number 10?” Are you saying it's impossible? ” Higgins asked Dr. Ariel Goldschmidt of the Allegheny County Coroner's Office.
“There was no evidence on the body that anything like that happened,” Goldschmidt replied.
“Very well, sir,” said Higgins. “It's not impossible.”
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