Law enforcement shot photos of the would-be assassin before the gunman shot bullets at Donald Trump.
Bodycam video released Tuesday by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office shows what appears to be a Secret Service agent with heavily armed law enforcement officers on the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at the former president on July 13.
The men compared photos of Crooks taken just before the shooting, when his suspicious behavior attracted attention from authorities guarding the Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The conversation took place feet from the would-be assassin’s body. Crooks was not visible, but the rifle seen in the video and a trail of blood on the gently sloping roof provided the grisly context.
“A Beaver County sniper came and sent the pictures out. This is him,” a local officer told the agent, referring to the body.
At one point, the men compared photos on their cellphones.
“He’s the one that sent the pictures out. I don’t know if you got the same ones I did,” the officer told the agent.
Grassley’s post on the social media platform X could not be embedded, but the Breaking 911 account had the same video.
BREAKING: Bodycam footage from roof following attempted assassination of President Trump
Officer says Secret Service sniper took multiple photos of Thomas Crooks before the shooting. pic.twitter.com/E4dVx7SbwN
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 23, 2024
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The confirmation that law enforcement not only had eyes on Crooks because of his behavior only raises more questions about how the assassination attempt was allowed to go so far — and with such deadly results.
Trump came within less than an inch of dying from a bullet that wounded his ear. A man in the audience was killed trying to protect his family from the bullets. Two others were critically wounded.
How in the world was Trump not hurried off the stage immediately after the Secret Service saw the sh**ter?
— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) July 23, 2024
A better question is how was he let onto the stage…..
— SlikPrimo15 (@SlickPrimo15) July 24, 2024
According to a timeline of events surrounding the shooting compiled by Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and released on Sunday, a law enforcement officer took a photo of Crooks at 5:14 p.m. the day of the Trump rally.
🚨Preliminary findings in my investigation into the attempted assassination of President Trump: pic.twitter.com/iMlN2hu8fw
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 21, 2024
At 5:49 p.m., the photos were sent to the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, the local law enforcement authority coordinating with the Secret Service for event security.
Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m., according to a timeline published by CBS News.
Crooks opened fire at 6:11 p.m., according to Johnson’s timeline.
