Veteran Nevada Police Officer, The former FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer said he was “shocked” by gunfire erupting at a rally for former President Trump in Pennsylvania.
Retired Las Vegas detective Ashton Pack gave an inside look at the investigation into the Butler assassination attempt.
“At first I was just stunned,” he said, “because I had so much trust and faith in the Secret Service system to protect former presidents, current presidents and their families, I couldn’t believe that what I was seeing was actually happening.”
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On July 13, 2024, Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump was photographed being escorted off stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, with blood running down his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Pack praised U.S. Secret Service agents who quickly and without hesitation surrounded the former president.
“I believe it was less than three seconds between the first shot and agents jumping on President Trump’s body,” he said. “I’ve analyzed the video. I’ve reviewed it myself multiple times.”
At first I was just surprised…
Former President Trump was hit in the ear in what appeared to be an assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on Saturday. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
A law enforcement veteran said the suspect, identified as 20 years old, Thomas Matthew Crookes It was “Amateur Hour” in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
“It was amateur level as far as the suspect is concerned,” he said. “Anyone you know who has an AR-15 rifle or an M4 variant within 150 yards of where the shots were fired can be very effective.”
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“And he failed at this, just like he’s failed at so many things in his life,” Pack said.
Former Buffalo County Fire Chief Corey Comperatore is pictured with his daughters in an undated family photo after Thomas Matthew Crooks, a man who had plotted to assassinate former President Trump at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, ambushed and killed Comperatore in a gunfight on Saturday, authorities said. Secret Service agents returned fire, killing Crooks. (Helen Comperatore/Facebook)
Corey Comperatore was shot and killed while attending a rally, and Pack praised his quick decision to shield his wife and daughter from bullets flying toward him.
“There are always casualties. There were casualties yesterday,” he said. “A man was trying to protect his daughter with his body when shots rang out. Just like the Secret Service threw their body on President Trump.”
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“And that was his father’s job. So I think we need to talk about the victims and the amazing lives that they led, not just about one man’s unfortunate and horrible decision,” he said.
On Saturday, July 13, 2024, shots were fired at former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a police sniper returned fire. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Pack said he thinks Americans will begin to wake up to the gravity of the attack on the former president in the coming days.
“I don’t think a lot of Americans realize how much worse last night would have been, and how much worse the next few weeks would have been, if Trump had been killed,” he said.
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The law enforcement veteran said he hoped the attack would serve as a catalyst for “unity” across the country.
“My hope is that we as a people can come together, take a deep breath and realize that most of us are a little to the left. Most people are center or a little to the right or a little to the left,” he said.
