Butler, Pennsylvania – First appearance on FOX Police body camera footage obtained by Fox News Digital through an open records request on Thursday shows two officers trying to stop suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks on a roof seconds before he allegedly tried to assassinate former President Trump at a campaign rally last month.
The video was captured on camera by two Butler Township Police Department officers desperately trying to stop Crooks moments before he fired a DPMS AR-15 rifle, shooting former President Trump in the ear, killing Corey Comparatore, and injuring two others.
In separate body camera footage released Thursday, the officer being hoisted can be heard saying, “If you do it this close, he’s gonna turn around.”
One officer can be seen directing another officer onto the roof, about 12 feet above the ground, where Crooks was stationed.
A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been charged with thwarting a possible assassination plot against President Trump, the Justice Department announced.
One of the officers motioned for the other officer to pull up onto the roof where Crooks was stationed. (Butler Township Police Department)
Butler County Mayor Thomas Knights previously told Fox News Digital that Crooks pointed his gun at officers as they climbed onto the building, but the officer eventually lowered his head, lost his grip on the edge of the roof and fell about eight feet to the ground, spraining his ankle.
Crooks is not seen in the video.
“I’m fucking pissed right now. We couldn’t find him,” another officer can be heard saying in another body camera video.
Body camera footage shows officers spotting Thomas Crooks on the roof of the AGR building seconds before he opens fire. (Butler County Police Department)
Buildings are seen adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, the site of a campaign rally for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania, Monday, July 15, 2024. Thomas Crooks fired shots from the roof of the complex in an assassination attempt on July 13, wounding Trump. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
“Before you motherfuckers got here, I was sticking my head in like a moron on my own,” says the officer who is hoisted onto the roof, “and then he turns around and I f—ing dropped and started f—ing. On the roof, calling f—ing. Shit, are we on different frequencies?”
“Damn, are we on different frequencies?”
Butler Township Police Lt. Matthew Pearson told local media that the officer was unable to draw his weapon because he was hanging from the building.
Seconds later, Crooks fired a shot, grazed Trump’s right ear, and three other rally attendees were shot, including Corey Comperatore, 50, who died while trying to protect his family from harm.
Republican candidate Donald Trump is photographed being escorted off stage, bleeding from the face and surrounded by Secret Service agents, during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
David Duch and James Copenhaver were shot and injured at the rally. They have since returned home, and on Wednesday Duch gave Fox News an exclusive statement about the deadly incident.
The footage is the latest major piece of information to be made public, attempting to shed light on what happened that day and what efforts were made to stop Crooks.
A map detailing points of interest related to the investigation into the attempt by Thomas Crooks to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Senator Chuck Grassley)
The security breach that led to the shooting has been muddled with finger-pointing among the various agencies involved at the local, state and federal levels.
acting Secret Service Director Ronald Lowe He said video footage of someone moving across a roof minutes before former President Trump was shot confirmed the “failure.”
Video taken by victim Copenhaver and obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital Video shows a person moving across the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building minutes before shots rang out at Trump’s rally.
The FBI previously said Crooks drove to the rally at 11 a.m. on the day of the shooting, spent an hour there and then returned home.
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawls across a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (DJ Laughery (background))
Crooks returned to the scene at 3:50 p.m. Crooks was first spotted by local police at his designated location at about 5:10 p.m., about 50 minutes before Trump took the stage, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who obtained the documents from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit.
After returning to the rally, Crooks flew the drone about 200 yards from where Trump was scheduled to speak, according to the FBI, which later said no photos or video were taken by the drone and no memory cards were found inside it.
Trump assassination attempt: New documents show local police scrambling to cover rally
At 5:30 p.m., local police took a photograph of Crooks and reported it to headquarters.
A video showing the perspective of the victims of the Trump shooting
“Kid walking around the building we’re in,” the officer wrote in a text message along with a photo of Crooks. “I think it’s AGR. Saw him with a rangefinder looking towards the stage. FYI. If you want to let SS snipers know to be on the lookout.”
“I lost sight of him,” the officer added.
The next message said: “Notify command and have a uniformed officer check in.”
By 6:12 pm, the “boy” was shot dead by a counter-shooter after firing at protesters.
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Thomas Matthew Crooks is photographed in front of the Butler Fairgrounds in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of the former president on July 14, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Bethel Park School District/Getty Images)
Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop New York Post He has previously noted that the officers who blocked Crooks likely provided enough of a distraction to save Trump’s life.
“If I was interrupted and I moved my gun, then at this point I would have to reevaluate the entire situation. So, yes, you can make the argument that those two officers saved the president’s life,” Throop told the outlet.
“Timing is everything,” Throop said, adding that the shooter’s interference miraculously bought Trump the seconds he needed to turn his head so the bullet struck only his ear.
“Can you imagine 10 seconds before that,” the sheriff asked, “the president was looking straight ahead and where that bullet landed?”
Fox News Digital is reviewing the body camera footage and will update this post.
Fox News’ Sarah Lampe Whitten contributed to this report.
