Secret Service, FBI respond to Trump rally video showing figure on roof minutes before gunfire

The U.S. Secret Service and the FBI responded Thursday to a video taken by James Copenhaver, one of the victims injured in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump. The video showed a figure moving across the roof of the building where suspect Thomas Crooks was shot.

The video, which Copenhaver shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, was recorded at 6:08 p.m. on July 13, minutes before Crooks fired at least eight shots at 6:11 p.m. and a counter sniper shot and killed him.

“The Secret Service is committed to gaining a better understanding of what happened before, during and after the assassination attempt on former President Trump and to ensuring that it never happens again,” the agency told Fox News in a statement. “This includes fully cooperating with Congress, the FBI and any other related investigations.”

The FBI told Fox News it was aware of the video but had no further comment.

Trump shooting: A timeline of the assassination attempt

Crooks plotted to assassinate the former president, killing his father, volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, and severely wounding James Copenhaver, 74, and David Duch, 57. A bullet sliced ​​through Trump’s ear as he turned his head at the last moment to look at a projector screen showing immigration statistics, but he was otherwise unharmed as he hastily retreated from the rally.

Law enforcement officials are working to unravel the timeline of events that followed that night to determine how and why Crooks was able to carry out the assassination attempt.

Video taken from the perspective of the victim of the Trump assassination attempt shows a figure moving across a rooftop moments before the shooting

Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is watched by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office released text messages obtained through a public records request that showed police had noticed a suspicious person near the rally about 90 minutes before the shooting began and had taken a photo of Crooks at about 4:36 p.m.

FBI officials told reporters at a press conference on Monday that Crooks climbed through air conditioning units and ducts to gain access to the roof of the AGR building, then traversed multiple rooftops before finding a spot on the roof of the AGR building where he had a direct view of the former president.

Trump assassination attempt victim James Copenhaver ‘saddened’ by state of ‘political division’ in America

Sniper photograph of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Senator Ron Johnson’s Office)

Leading up to the July 6 shooting, Crooks Bethel ParkResearchers at Pennsylvania State investigated how far Oswald was from President John F. Kennedy when he assassinated him in 1963.

On July 7, he went to the rally and spent about 20 minutes in the area, according to Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office.

Trump assassination attempt: FBI says gunman climbed into air conditioning unit, then across roof to location

The sniper noticed Crooks looking at his cell phone and rangefinder, and at 5:38 p.m., the sniper sent a message to a “group of snipers” about a suspicious person, later identified as Crooks, according to Johnson’s office. (Senator Chuck Grassley’s office)

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On the day of the rally, Crooks parked his car and flew the drone between 3:50 and 4:00 p.m., about 200 yards from where the former president was scheduled to speak on July 13. FBI Director Christopher Wray At a congressional hearing on July 17, Crooks testified that he was at the rally for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.

Fox News’ CB Cotton and Seth Andrews contributed to this report.