An attendee at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania claimed he and other attendees warned authorities that a man with a rifle had climbed onto a roof Saturday evening in what was believed to be a suspected assassination attempt, moments before opening fire.
An eyewitness was standing with others just outside the Butler event venue. He told BBC News Shortly after President Trump began speaking at the rally, he reportedly saw the gunman climb onto a nearby roof.
“We noticed a military looking guy crawling up the roof of the building next door, about 50 feet away from us,” he said. “We were just standing there pointing at the guy crawling up the roof.”
He told the BBC that although it was too far away to see what type of gun it was, “I could clearly see a man with a rifle,” and described the shooter as wearing subdued brown clothing.
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On Saturday, 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)
The witness detailed how he and others tried to alert police and the Secret Service.
“We were pointing at him,” he said. “The police were running around below. We were like, ‘Hey, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle,’ and the police were like, ‘What?! Whatever, they didn’t seem to know what was going on.’
On Saturday, President Trump held his right ear as multiple gunshots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
Witnesses said they could still see the gunman crawling across the roof, but continued to point at him.
President Trump was helped to his feet by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“I’m standing there pointing [the gunman] “It lasted about two or three minutes,” he said. “The Secret Service was watching us from the top of the barn. I was pointing at the roof… and the next thing I knew, five shots rang out.”
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He said a Secret Service agent atop a nearby barn was looking in their direction with binoculars but likely did not see the shooter because the sloping roof obscured his body.
On Saturday, Trump was surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
After the initial shots were fired, witnesses recounted seeing Secret Service agents respond.
“They blew [the gunman’s] “He blew his head off,” he said. “The Secret Service blew his head off.”
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)
He also questioned why Trump wasn’t dragged off the stage after the shooter was pointed out, and why the Secret Service wasn’t on every roof in the neighborhood.
Appearing covered in blood as Secret Service officers rushed him off the stage and into a waiting SUV, Trump later posted a statement to Truth Social saying he “immediately felt the bullet slice through my skin.”
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh about an hour south of where the assassination attempt occurred.
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Authorities said at least one protester was killed and two others seriously injured, all identified as men.
