The July 13 assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks on former President Donald J. Trump and attendees at a Pennsylvania rally was ended by a “super tough” SWAT officer who fired a bullet into Crooks’ rifle from 100 yards above the ground, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) said.
Higgins said on Aug. 15, Crooks, 20, was shot at from the ground by Butler County Emergency Services SWAT members, blowing off the butt of his rifle.
in Report Higgins told the bipartisan House Select Committee investigating the assassination attempt on former President Trump that SWAT officers ended Crooks’ attack with eight shots, about 10 seconds before a police counter-sniper shot him dead. Sources previously told The Blaze News that the counter-sniper’s shots came from 448 yards southwest of Crooks’ position.
“The ninth shot struck the butt of Crooks’ rifle, breaking it and wounding Crooks in the face, neck, and right shoulder area,” Higgins wrote. “The SWAT officer who fired this shot was a real brat, as he saw Crooks as a moving target hidden in the foliage. [American Glass Research] On the rooftop, he quickly left his assigned post and ran toward the threat, running to a clear position in the line of fire while Crooks fired eight shots.”
Higgins said the preliminary report is based on about 20 hours of investigative work conducted at the Butler County scene between Aug. 4 and 6.
“As always, my investigation was focused on hard evidence and facts, as well as specific observations guided by intuition and experience,” he wrote. “My overall task was to personally observe and examine the available crime scene, taking into consideration expected and unexpected interactions with witnesses, the crime scene landscape, and hard, corroborating, and circumstantial evidence.”
Despite having been identified as a suspicious person by local police 90 minutes before the shooting, body camera footage shows Crooks sneaking onto the roof of the sprawling AGR complex between 6:06 pm and 6:08 pm and running at least two-thirds of the length of the roof to a hidden shooting location in Building 6.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers broadcast a warning at 6:08 p.m. that someone was on the roof, but the Secret Service apparently didn’t hear it. The Secret Service did not staff the local police command center and did not use special police-provided radios to communicate with the local command center, according to authorities.
At 6:11:32 pm, Crooks fired three shots from a rifle, then five more shots, striking President Trump in the right ear. Killed in the shooting was volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, age 50, of Thurber, Pennsylvania. Among those seriously injured were David Duch, age 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, age 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
During a press conference last week with Rep. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), local law enforcement officials said the Secret Service has not acknowledged the heroic actions of the Butler County Special Forces officers who thwarted the attack. “That has not been widely reported,” Johnson said on August 11.
“This scorched earth pattern of investigation by the FBI is deeply disturbing.”
Higgins said the SWAT officers’ shots may have disabled Crooks’ weapon, preventing him from firing a ninth or subsequent shots.
“This ESU SWAT officer was hit very hard with one shot,” Higgins said, “and I believe he stopped Crooks and, more importantly, damaged the buffer tube in Crooks’ AR. … In other words, if the buffer tube in the AR had been damaged, Crooks’ rifle would not have fired after the eighth round.”
The buffer tube on an AR-15 style rifle contains a system that controls recoil when the weapon is fired.
Crooks initially fell from a prone firing position when SWAT rounds struck his AR-15, the report said, likely knocking him unconscious after shrapnel struck his face and neck. After a few seconds, Crooks “bounced back up,” SWAT Officer Butler reported.
Video taken by witness John Mullis from the west side of Building 6 shows Crooks almost getting up after the rifle was fired. “I then zoomed in and watched the video again, and sure enough, right before the Secret Service shot him, Crooks got up, brandished the weapon and pointed it in our direction,” Mullis said.
Prior to joining the House of Representatives in 2017, Higgins served in various law enforcement positions in Louisiana, most recently as a deputy sheriff for the City of Lafayette, and previously held law enforcement positions in city, town and parish departments.
FBI releases gunman’s body
Higgins said he was scheduled to examine Crooks’ body during an investigative trip to Butler on Aug. 5, but learned the FBI had released the body to the family for cremation on July 23. “Nobody knew about this until Monday, Aug. 5,” Higgins said.
“The problem with me not being able to examine the actual body is that I cannot be 100% sure that the coroner’s report and autopsy report are accurate. We will never actually know,” Higgins wrote. “Sure, I have the reports, photos, etc., but I can never say with certainty that those reports and photos are accurate based on my own examination of the body.”
He said the FBI’s release of the crime scene just three days later hindered other investigative efforts looking into the shooting.
“Cops would never do that.”
“I interviewed several emergency responders, and they expressed a range of emotions, including surprise, disappointment, and suspicion, that the FBI made the scene public so soon after the J13 incident,” he said. “It’s notable that the FBI was fully aware that Congress would be investigating the J13 incident. The FBI does not exist in a vacuum, and they must have known that publicly disclosing the J13 incident scene would adversely affect their immediate observations of the investigation that followed.”
The FBI also removed the scene before the film’s release.
Beaver County Emergency Services SWAT members and medics entered the building where Thomas Crooks shot former President Donald J. Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.Butler Township Police Department (via Judicial Watch)
“The FBI removed biological evidence from a crime scene, which is unheard of,” he said. “Police would never do that.”
Higgins called the FBI’s actions an “obstruction” of congressional and other investigations that have been launched since the criminal investigation into the shooting. He said the FBI was of course aware of the existence of a special House committee appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“So why and how did the FBI release the body to the family and have it cremated? This pattern of scorched earth investigations by the FBI is deeply troubling,” Higgins said.
The Blaze News has reached out to the FBI for comment on the Higgins report.
The Higgins report, which confirmed information published by The Blade News on August 12, said Crooks moved along the rooftop to the shooting location to minimize his exposure to the countersniper team. The Secret Service countersniper’s view was heavily obstructed by two large trees just southeast of the building from which Crooks fired. The Blade’s source said Crooks likely used a drone just before 4 p.m. to view the route he would take on the rooftop.
“Crooks’ firing position was also a few feet behind the actual top of the AGR roof,” Higgins said. “By choosing this position, Crooks effectively minimized the outline of his head and upper body against the sky.”
No second shooter
The report denies a theory circulating widely online that there was a second shooter atop the blue water tower at the edge of the AGR site. Higgins said a drone was used to inspect and clear the tower in the morning. He said the telescopic ladder to access the tower was never lowered that day and that local police forces were waiting underneath the tower all day.
To reach the top of the tower, one would have had to climb the first 25 feet without a ladder, then climb 75 feet to a catwalk, and then climb a “horribly dangerous” dome vent access ladder.
“I do not believe there was a ‘second shooter’ shooter on top of the water tower at J13, nor have I seen any evidence to support the second shooter theory. I am not categorically saying there wasn’t another shooter somewhere or that there weren’t other conspirators involved at J13, but I am saying based on the investigation to date, 10 shots were fired at J13, all shots have been accounted for, and all shots are consistent with the source of fire.”
Mr Higgins also denied claims that a muzzle flash was seen from a ground-floor window of the AGR building at the time of the shooting, saying the window had been inspected and found not to open.
Higgins praised the tactical team and other local police officers who were dispatched to the scene and responded to the shooting. “My assessment of the overall performance of local police at J13 is that the ESU was very professionally deployed and led,” he said.
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