Butler, Pennsylvania – An analysis of bird’s-eye view footage from the Butler Farm Show, the scene of the July 13 shooting by suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks at former President Trump and killing a bystander, has revealed clear tactical flaws in the Secret Service’s counter-sniper strategy, experts said.
Crooks, 20, fired a volley of shots at Trump from a rooftop about 150 yards from the Pennsylvania Agricultural Fairgrounds, killing local firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding 74-year-old James Copenhaver and 57-year-old David Duch.
Paul Mauro, a former New York Police Department inspector and Fox News contributor, told America’s Newsroom that he spoke with attendees who said the event overall felt “unsafe” compared to other rallies. No one was waded through or scanned with metal detectors to enter the venue, Mauro said.
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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 while speaking at a rally on July 13. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Drone footage of the 100-acre site shows where the stage was set up, as well as two red buildings where anti-sniper equipment was stationed.
Crooks had a perfect view of them from the top of a low-slung, gray building opposite the stage, but Mauro said tree growth and the sniper’s angle meant he could only see part of the roof.
Mauro said he has spoken with Butler residents who have attended past Trump rallies and found the July 13 rally “very disruptive.”
A source familiar with the investigation told Fox News that the shooter who shot Crooks, killing him, had a “one in a million” chance of hitting the target, and that the edge of the roof meant only the top of Crooks’ head and the scope of the gun were visible.
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The building where suspect Thomas Crooks climbed to shoot former President Trump is pictured. Former New York Police Department Capt. Paul Mauro suspects Crooks used a hallway adjacent to the two buildings to get to the roof and hide an AR-15 in the air conditioning unit pictured. (Fox News)
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle previously said the sloping roof of the building where Crooks was sitting was a “security hazard” and that agents would be stationed inside the building instead.
“If you look at the windows facing the stage, they’re very narrow and it’s not clear that they can even be opened,” Mauro said. “The feds are calling these windows observation posts. They don’t even look like they can be opened and I’m not sure how these low windows at ground level would make a very good observation post for the officers inside to look out.”
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Secret Service agents were stationed in the red buildings on either side. (Fox News)
Mauro said a hallway connecting the building to a neighboring one provided an access point for Crooks to get onto the roof, and officials told Mauro that an air conditioning unit seen from above may be where Crooks had hidden an AR-15 before the rally.
Meanwhile, the footage also shows a window through which the roof can be directly observed from the neighboring building.
A Pennsylvania Republican activist who has attended 20 Trump rallies says the Butler rally was the least safe venue he’s ever been to.
Former New York Police Department Capt. Paul Mauro questioned whether Secret Service agents stationed in the building could have adequately monitored the rally through small, low windows that may not have opened. (Fox News)
“It’s almost impossible to miss Tom Crooks climbing onto a roof with an AR-15,” Mauro said.
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Mr Cheatle will appear before MPs on Monday over the assassination attempt, and an independent commission has been appointed to investigate the actions of authorities before and during the attack.
