Trump Assassination Attempt: What We Know This Morning

If you missed the updates from Saturday, check this post for videos and the early details that unfolded late Saturday afternoon at President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As of this morning, there is some new information concerning the identity of the shooter who attempted to take Donald Trump’s life and some more background concerning security failures that created a deadly situation at the Butler Trump rally.

First and foremost, however, President Trump was taken to his Bedminster golf course late last night in New Jersey and arrived safely. Video of him departing the plane was a welcome sight given the day’s events:

According to reports and eyewitness evidence, including video, the shooter was perched on a building just outside the Butler County Fairgrounds property, reports the New York Post:

The gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally Saturday had positioned himself on the roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away — a bit longer than a football field — from the stage.

The open-air campaign event was being held at the Butler Farm Show grounds, whose large, sprawling fields gave the sniper a virtually unobstructed line of sight to the former president from his perch.

The counter-sniper team, which sources told The Post killed the shooter, returned fire from the roof of another building close to where Trump was located — behind the audience stands.

The building where the sniper’s body was later discovered is part of AGR International, Inc., a supplier of automation equipment for the glass and plastic packaging industry whose land directly abuts the farm show grounds, separated only by a chain-link fence.

Here’s an overhead image depicting the shooter’s location in relation to the stage and the rally, a mere 150 yards:

How and why this building roof with a clear view of the stage was left unaccounted for is quite possibly one of the biggest security failures since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. For some unexplainable reason, it was “outside” the security zone for the rally which seems absurd given the proximity and wide open view of the rally grounds.

The shooter has been identified as one Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel, Pennsylvania:

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, has been pictured for the first time.

Crooks, 20, was on the roof of a manufacturing plant over 130 yards away from Trump’s rally at Butler Farm Show grounds on Saturday when he took fire at the former president — grazing Trump’s ear and killing one rally attendee.

Immediately after he began shooting, Secret Service snipers took the 20-year-old out. He was found with an AR-style semi-automatic assault rifle and was wearing a shirt for a popular gun YouTube channel, Demolition Ranch, which has over 11 million subscribers.

Some media outlets have pointed out that Crooks is reportedly a registered Republican but had most recently donated money to the left-wing “Progressive Turnout Project PAC” on January 20, 2021, the day of President Biden’s inauguration:

FBI officially identifies shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Voter records show Crooks was a registered Republican who made one singular $15 donation to a liberal PAC on January 20, 2021 — Biden’s Inauguration Day. pic.twitter.com/orEO4hq1PS

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) July 14, 2024

As for what happened leading up to the shooting on Saturday, questions are swirling concerning just how ill-prepared the Secret Service may have been in securing the location from all possible angles.

House Republicans are promising immediate and swift investigations into the security lapses, according to Reuters:

The House oversight panel called Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on July 22.

While information about the incident was still sparse, early media reports said the shooter was outside the security perimeter of the rally venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. One person interviewed by the BBC said he had seen the man with gun and tried unsuccessfully to alert police and the Secret Service.

Trump supporters blasted the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Trump as a former U.S. president. Billionaire Elon Musk called for the agency’s leadership to resign.

“How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee,” asked conservative activist Jack Posobiec on social media site X.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek, speaking at a press briefing, called the number of shots the attacker was able to fire “surprising.”

The Secret Service did not have a representative in that press briefing late on Saturday, which included FBI and state law enforcement officials.

This video of a man who claims to have seen the shooter on the roof and tried to alert authorities has gone viral overnight and offers a chilling glance into what rally attendees experienced on the ground:

this BBC interview with a guy outside the security perimeter who claims he saw the shooter before he fired is absolutely wild pic.twitter.com/vJpKZTxSAe

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 13, 2024

The agency this morning denied claims that it was derelict in protecting the former president:

The Secret Service in a statement denied accusations by some Trump supporters that it had rejected campaign requests for additional security.

“The assertion that a member of the former President’s security team requested additional security resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false,” said Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi in a statement. “In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former President’s security detail.”

For the record, the current head of the Secret Service has been pushing hard to implement DEI goals rather than focus on the agency’s core mission of protection:

CBS News Report reveals what Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has been focused on: diversity hires pic.twitter.com/IoKnY4uj6M

— Matt Batzel (@MattBatzel) July 14, 2024

Jaw-dropping, to say the least.

No one cares about gender or ethnicity when it comes to protecting a president or first family, they only care about competence and ability to perform the job.

Kimberly Cheatle should have her resignation papers ready this morning as it’s clear her style of leadership is not working.

For more insight into the inner workings of the agency and obvious failures yesterday, here’s a clip of Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent for over a decade under President Obama, this morning on Fox:

Dan Bongino pic.twitter.com/Qobd40I1ve

— Karli Bonne’ ?? (@KarluskaP) July 14, 2024

As for the Republican National Convention slated to start on Monday, everything is to proceed as planned. Security will be tightened, obviously, but President Trump is a fighter and will push forward in the face of this adversity.

We will have complete live coverage of the convention starting Monday morning.