A video taken by an attendee at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has gone viral and shows a person running across the same roof where suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump, minutes before the tragedy that left one attendee dead and three others injured, including Trump.
Fox News first Obtained The video was taken by James Copenhaver, one of the victims injured at the July 13 rally. The video shows a person running across the roof where Crooks later opened fire. According to Fox News, the video was taken at 6:08 pm, which, if accurate, would have meant that this happened about three minutes before Crooks opened fire on Trump.
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BREAKING: Video taken by victim at Trump rally in Pennsylvania shows a person running on roof where Thomas Crooks shot Trump moments before he was shot in the face.
Wow.
The video, obtained by Fox News, was recorded by James Copenhaver, the man who was shot twice.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 31, 2024
According to attorney Joseph Feldman of the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman, Copenhaver was shot twice and seriously injured, and is currently in a rehabilitation center. He told the media that Copenhaver “appeared to have seen or heard something go past him, possibly a bullet.”
“He felt the bullet in his arm and looked down at his arm. He felt pain at first but at that point he didn’t even realise he’d been shot a second time. It might have been the shock,” he added.
The video’s unearthing comes as the Secret Service faces intense pressure from Congress for failing to fully answer the obvious question of how Crooks managed to get a clear view of the former president that day.
“Was he guessing or lying?” Jim Jordan slams then-Secret Service director
Oversight and Accountability Committee
The fact that Crooks was somehow able to fly a drone in the area, unaltered, about two hours before the rally adds to the unanswered questions, as well as why Secret Service counter-snipers didn’t see Crooks on another roof.
On Tuesday, Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe testified to the Senate Homeland Security Committee that the Secret Service was unaware of Crooks’ presence until it heard gunshots.
“Based on what I know now, neither the Secret Service anti-sniper team nor the former president’s security detail knew that there was a man with a gun on the roof of the AGR building,” Rowe told lawmakers.
“My understanding is that agents were unaware the perpetrator had a gun until they heard the shots,” he continued, adding that Secret Service counter-shooter officers “neutralized the perpetrator within seconds of him firing his weapon. Those counter-shooter officers had complete discretion to use lethal force to stop the perpetrator and were not required to ask permission to fire.”
Rowe’s argument is in keeping with the excuse given by former U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle as the reason the roof was initially left uncovered – citing “safety factors” of having people on a “sloping roof.”
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C-SPAN
During his testimony Tuesday, Rowe also declined to say who exactly has rejected Trump’s requests for increased security over the past two years.
