Tag: unanswered questions

The head of the Pennsylvania State Police says two local law enforcement officers stationed in the complex of buildings where the gunman opened fire at former President Donald Trump left to go search for the man before the shooting

Officers left post to go look for Trump rally gunman before shooting, state police boss saysBy ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, CLAUDIA LAUER and MICHAEL KUNZELMANThe Associated PressWASHINGTON

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two local law enforcement officers stationed in the complex of buildings where a gunman opened fire at former President Donald Trump left to go search for the man before the shooting, the head of Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday, raising questions about whether a key post was left unattended as the shooter climbed onto a roof.

Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris told a congressional committee that two Butler County Emergency Services Unit officers were stationed at a second-floor window in the complex of buildings that form AGR International Inc. They spotted Thomas Matthew Crooks acting suspiciously on the ground and left their post to go look for him along with other law enforcement officers, he said.

Paris said he didn’t know whether officers would have been able to see Crooks climbing onto the roof of an adjacent building had they remained at the window. A video taken by a lawmaker who visited the shooting site on Monday shows a second-story window of the building had a clear view of the roof where Crooks opened fire; it was unclear if the video showed the window where the officers had been stationed.

The Pennsylvania State Police commissioner’s testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee provides new insight into security preparations for the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, but raises further questions about law enforcement’s decisions before Crooks opened fire.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, who oversees the emergency services unit, didn’t immediately respond to a text message Tuesday from The Associated Press. A Secret Service spokesperson didn’t respond to questions from the AP, including who gave the command for those officers to leave their post.

The revelation comes amid growing questions about a multitude of security failures that allowed the 20-year-old gunman to get onto the roof and fire eight shots with an AR-style rifle into the crowd shortly after Trump began speaking. One spectator was killed and two others were injured. Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously hurt.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned earlier Tuesday, a day after she was berated for hours by Democrats and Republicans over the agency’s failure to protect the Republican presidential nominee. Cheatle told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday that the assassination attempt was the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.

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The Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, Colonel Christopher Paris, disclosed that not one, but four individuals were flagged as suspicious during former President Donald Trump’s rally at Butler, PA on July 13, 2024.

This information came to light during a congressional hearing following the assassination attempt on the former President.

According to preliminary findings reported by Senator Ron Johnson’s office, local law enforcement had spotted Crooks nearly an hour before the shooting.

Crooks was first spotted by a local law enforcement sniper, who noted suspicious behavior but did not observe any immediate threat of a weapon.

According to the timeline provided by the local law enforcement:

At 5:10pm on July 13, 2024, nearly one hour before former President Trump was shot, one of two local law enforcement snipers (hereafter AGR sniper 1) positioned in the AGR building observed the shooter, Crooks, for the first time. Local law enforcement told Senator Johnson’s office that at the time, even though Crooks did not have a weapon, he seemed suspicious.

At 5:14pm AGR sniper 1 took at least two pictures of Crooks (one of the pictures appears to show Crooks on his phone).

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New footage has been released showing local Beaver County police officers and a Secret Service agent on the roof with the neutralised shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks at the July rally where President Trump was almost assassinated.

The footage, obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit in compliance with congressional requests, shows police and the agent talking about what has transpired while standing over the dead and bloodied body of the shooter, with the rifle he used just a few feet away.

Grassley notes “July 13 Bodycam footage provides more info than Secret Service will share with America. We NEED detailed answers ASAP on security failures TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY.”

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On Saturday July 13th, there was a “colossal failure” of security, according to the Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle.

The ‘colossal failure’ resulted in an alleged sniper Thomas M. Crooks taking shots at President Trump from the rooftop of the AGR Building in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Details from the incident have been sparse, but the few that emerged have been wildly inconsistent.

The Gateway Pundit conducted an interview with Dr. Mollie James, an expert in Emergency Room gunshot wounds, having had nearly 20 years experience dealing with such situations.

She claimed that the photos of the Butler Rally sniper, dead on the roof of the AGR Building, were inconsistent with the aftermath of being shot by a Secret Service sniper.

Photos show a very limited amount of bloodspray, brain matter, skull fragments, on the roof, if any.

Even after the body was taken away, very little pooled blood remained even though the head wound should have created a massive opening where the body’s 1.2-1.5 gallons of blood should have immediately come out of, coming onto the roof of the AGR Building.

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