The sheriff of Butler County, Pennsylvania, has defended as heroes the local police officers who confronted the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who tried to assassinate former President Trump from the roof of a political rally on Saturday.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop New York Post The officers who intercepted Crooks just before he fired multiple shots at the former president likely provided enough of a distraction to save Trump’s life.
“If I was disturbed 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 said.
Both federal and local law enforcement have been criticized for security lapses following the shooting, and there has also been a dispute between the U.S. Secret Service and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Local police responsible for building where Trump shooter fired at president: sources
Police officers stand Saturday near the body of Thomas Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, killing at least one person and wounding the former president. (Todd the Driller)
A crowd outside Trump’s rally pointed and yelled that there was a suspicious person with a gun on the roof of a building, and local police arrived on the scene and searched the area, but were unable to find the person on the roof from the ground, Butler County Executive Thomas Knights previously told Fox News Digital.
With no easy access to the roof, one officer lifted another up high enough to grab the edge of the building’s roof, 12 feet above the ground, Knights said. As the officers were lifted, Knights said they “did indeed observe an individual on the roof” who “was observed to be armed” and “pointed the gun at the officers.”
When Crooks pointed his gun at the officer, the officer bowed his head, lost his grip on the edge of the roof and fell about eight feet to the ground, spraining his ankle, the town manager said.
Classmates of Trump shooter Thomas Crooks say he was a quiet student as investigators search for motive
“Timing is everything,” Throop told the New York Post, saying his interference with the shooter miraculously bought Trump the seconds he needed to turn his head so the bullet only hit his ear.
Photos are taken at the Butler Farm Show, the site of a campaign rally for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at the rally on Saturday. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
“Can you imagine 10 seconds before that,” the sheriff asked, “the president was looking straight ahead and where that bullet landed?”
But Sloop agreed there were security lapses throughout the event.
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“It would be foolish not to admit failure,” he told The Post, adding that local police were just doing the job they were asked to do.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
