BUTLER, Pa. — A lone bicycle parked in the shade near a Pennsylvania manufacturing plant is a stark reminder of the shootout where a gunman nearly assassinated a former president.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, rode a bicycle to a Donald Trump rally in Butler, then abandoned it and opened fire from a roof about 150 yards from where the former president addressed a crowd of thousands on Saturday. The New York Post reported..
Crooks left his bike in a public place, climbed to a high point and opened fire, killing a local hero defending his family, cutting off Trump’s ear and wounding two others.
According to The Washington Post, witnesses first noticed the bike around 5:30 pm on July 13, about 42 minutes before the shooting, which led at least one expert to believe the security lapse was due to someone leaving it turned off and sleeping.
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Police sources told the New York Post that suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks was riding a bicycle at a Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (New York Post)
Paul MauroThe lawyer and former New York Police Department inspector, who has worked on interagency security coordination efforts during his career, said a “flight squad” should have caught Crooks long before he pulled the trigger.
“Flying Squads,” which can go by a variety of names, are untethered, mobile response teams that move around to monitor and track suspicious activity.
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According to a lawmaker who attended an FBI briefing on Wednesday and spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity, the FBI told Congress that Crooks was first identified as a “suspect” around 5:10 p.m.
At 5:30pm, an eyewitness spotted Crooks with a rangefinder, and other rally attendees reported his suspicious behaviour to police.
But the officers stationed there can’t leave their posts in case the suspicious person or object is intended as a diversion, Mauro explained, which is why there’s a separate team.
According to the New York Post, a motorcycle believed to have belonged to Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who nearly assassinated former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024, was left at the crime scene. (New York Post)
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawls across a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (DJ Laughery (background))
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Why didn’t you go after them an hour before the event?’ When you’re that close to the event, you have to be on guard for sabotage,” Mauro told Fox News Digital.
“Someone staged something as a diversion, leaving the principal defenseless.”
In this particular case, it would have been Trump.
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“So you have to stay in your position. The way to make it less strict is to have squadrons,” he said. “They’ll get a report that X, Y, Z has been sighted, and they’ll immediately send a squadron out there.”
“And if you’re really worried about him an hour before the event, you should definitely keep an eye on him… but someone overslept.”
Former President Trump is reeling from the aftermath of the assassination attempt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Blood spills in the auditorium after a gun is fired at Republican candidate Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
According to lawmakers, the FBI notified Congress that Secret Service agents found Crooks on the roof at 5:52 p.m.
Twenty minutes later, at 6:12 p.m., Crooks fired several shots into the crowd.
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One bullet struck Trump in the ear and, if he had not moved his head at that moment, he could have been killed.
Our beloved former fire chief, Corey Comperatore, He died trying to protect his wife and daughters from a hail of bullets, and two others were seriously injured.
Crooks was ultimately shot dead after about 30 seconds of gunfire.
Authorities approached the spot where the suspected gunman fell after the U.S. Secret Service returned fire during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. (Source: Fox News Digital)
Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump touches the turnout gear of former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore during the fourth day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Reuters/Gina Moon)
Nearly a week has passed since the shooting, but many questions remain unanswered, including how Crooks was able to get through a loophole that allowed him to fire multiple times into the crowd.
Lawmakers told Fox News Digital there are clear deficiencies in the design and/or execution of safety plans that need to be addressed.
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According to the New York Post’s sources, Crooks reportedly rode his bicycle to the park, but police sources say he was also in a white van, which was packed with explosives.
But what he used and when remains a mystery.
Authorities reported finding a car containing explosives belonging to the would-be Trump assassin near the Pennsylvania rally. (Fox News)
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 on July 13 while speaking at a rally. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Butler Township police referred questions to the FBI, Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police.
The FBI declined to comment, and the Secret Service and State Police did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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Police authorities have remained silent since Saturday’s assassination attempt.
According to The Washington Post, witnesses first noticed the bicycle, still propped up by the backpack, around 5:30 p.m. on July 13, 42 minutes before the shooting.
