The earliest video yet discovered of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks on the day of his death is taking the internet by storm as people immediately began noticing strange details in the footage.
The footage shows Crooks in clear detail, in clear contrast to the grainy and low-resolution photos that have been circulating since his July 13 shooting of former President Donald Trump at a fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In the video, Crooks can be seen wandering the grounds less than an hour before he took position on a roof with a rifle, firing a series of shots that struck former President Donald Trump and rallygoers in the audience, killing one man.
The video was originally taken by a vendor on the rally grounds, who only noticed Crooks when reviewing his footage.
The original video was uploaded to TikTok Tuesday but soon made its way to millions across social media.
@ironcladusa My personal raw unedited 4 second clip that was recorded at 4:26pm at PA Trump Rally. Viral X posts are mentioning law enforcement sightings of him elsewhere at this time. #TMC #WitnessVideo #breakingnews #unedited #foxnews #benshapiro #tedcruz #donaldtrump #cnbc #skynews #abcnews ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
“My personal raw unedited 4 second clip that was recorded at 4:26pm at PA Trump Rally,” the Iron Clad apparel account wrote on TikTok. “Viral X posts are mentioning law enforcement sightings of him elsewhere at this time.”
Although Crooks’ time in frame is short at only a few seconds, the high quality of the video has made a clear impact.
Is the man seen in this newest video linked to Crooks?
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Conservative personality Jack Posobiec shared the video that same day, and his followers quickly noticed strange details in the short clip.
One of the most worrying things people noticed is that Crooks appears to be following the man in front of him.
It’s unclear who the mystery man is, but a button-up shirt and something attached to his left hip (which some have speculated to be a firearm) hint he could very well be much more than an innocent rallygoer.
The guy is definitely not dressed to enjoy a relaxing day with fellow Trump fans and has a strange gun shaped bulge on his left leg..
— Widiwidi (@Widiwidi1057031) August 20, 2024
A very hot, 94 degrees, high humidity, sunny day and guy in front has long pants, long-sleeved shirt and dress shoes. Things that make you go hmmm.
— Steel City Slicker (@trickytweeter) August 20, 2024
Crooks is unarmed in the video and doesn’t appear to be concealing any firearm. He also appears calm walking between vendors’ tents, giving no indication of what he was about to do.
Context surrounding the video makes it look much worse.
At the time it was taken, a local police sniper had already alerted his colleagues on security at the rally of a suspicious person — who later turned out to be Crooks.
“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” the sniper’s earliest text reads.
“I’m just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there,” the text continues, “he’s sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit.”
Security would apparently lose sight of Crooks, only taking serious notice as he was on the roof and preparing to fire a volley at Trump.
A chaotic response followed, with the shot that put downed Crooks’ gun apparently coming from a SWAT operator on-scene at the time. The shot “fragged” Crooks and disabled the ability of the shooter’s gun to cycle by reportedly destroying the buffer tube.
The next shot hit Crooks, and proved to be the fatal wound for the failed assassin.
While the threat from Crooks has been eliminated, there are still many questions that need to be answered about the deadly shooting in Butler.
