PA - Assassination attempt, shooting injures former POTUS Donald Trump, leaves 1 spectator deceased two in critical condition, 13 July 2024 #4

[rockthecasbah]

Nearly 100 minutes before former President Donald J. Trump took the stage in Butler, Pa., a local countersniper who was part of the broader security detail let his colleagues know his shift was ending.

“Guys I am out. Be safe,” he texted to a group of colleagues at 4:19 p.m. on July 13. He exited the second floor of a warehouse that overlooked the campaign rally site, leaving two other countersnipers behind.

Outside, the officer noticed a young man with long stringy hair sitting on a picnic table near the warehouse. So at 4:26 p.m., he texted his colleagues about the man, who was outside the fenced area of the Butler Fair Show grounds where Mr. Trump was to appear. He said that the person would have seen him come out with his rifle and “knows you guys are up there.”

Gunman at Trump Rally Was Often a Step Ahead of the Secret Service

Text messages, obtained exclusively by The Times, indicate that some law enforcement officers were aware of Thomas Crooks earlier than previously known. And he was aware of them.

www.nytimes.com

I'm surprised they would use someone who would only be available till 4:00 p.m, given that the speaker was due to start at 5pm.

 

[sds71]

New: The FBI says it has determined that Thomas Crooks fired at Donald Trump just 25 to 30 seconds after local police first encountered him on the roof. Also, the FBI says Trump has agreed to a victim interview…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817934737824010362

 

[Diddian]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817739237904548109

From the text of the counter sniper who was leaving at the end of his shift to the two counter snipers who remained inside the building, it sounds like the shooter may have parked his car near where they had parked theirs at or near the AGR complex:

"Guys I am out. Be safe,' he wrote. 'Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know. 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,' he wrote."

 

[Sundog]

New: The FBI says it has determined that Thomas Crooks fired at Donald Trump just 25 to 30 seconds after local police first encountered him on the roof. Also, the FBI says Trump has agreed to a victim interview…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817934737824010362

President Trump needs to have a witness with him during the interview in case there are leaks regarding the interview and/or any questions about the accuracy of anything that gets reported.

 

[Sundog]

From the text of the counter sniper who was leaving at the end of his shift to the two counter snipers who remained inside the building, it sounds like the shooter may have parked his car near where they had parked theirs at or near the AGR complex:

"Guys I am out. Be safe,' he wrote. 'Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know. 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,' he wrote."

Sounds like this guy was very alert and doing his job up until the time that he was off duty.

 

[Chimera]

Reposting this link :

Police were stationed in building Trump gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot from

Police were stationed inside the building from which gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at Donald Trump, the director of the US Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle says.

Ms Cheatle told ABC News that local police were inside the building while Crooks was on the roof, and that local police - not the Secret Service - had been “responsible" for securing the building and its outer perimeter.
Rbm.

Now that Ms. Cheatle is a "former director" of the USSS ....
Sure, throw the local LE under the bus, why not ?

How many were stationed inside ?

This is looking more and more like a Keystone moment and not the actions of trained professionals.
Here's a thought : What if the SS supersede the PA LE ?
As in -- the PA LE were prevented from posting any of their trained snipers to the roofs ?
Omo.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Going forward I wonder if the Secret Service should exclusively rely upon their own snipers. This isn't because local LE snipers are bad, just that their normal duties and training differ from Secret Service snipers. Local LE snipers are usually engaged for barricade or hostage rescue and as part of SWAT teams they might also perform high risk arrests, which this event didn't involve any of that. Beaver County ESU has been criticized specifically, though absent specific evidence they weren't using their snipers in the normal way and could have felt it was their duty to investigate a suspicious person and potentially engage in a high risk arrest. Secret Service snipers would have a clear understanding and training specifically in VIP protection for these events. It's still not clear what the Secret Service expected to happen when there was a suspicious person identified outside the Secret Service perimeter and so far it doesn't sound like any communication has come out with the Secret Service saying what to do or not to in response to local LE reporting the suspicious person, which again with it being outside the Secret Service perimeter and not hearing anything from the Secret Service local LE might have felt compelled to act.

 

[Ruminations]

As more and more information comes out, it seems to get bumblier and worse. There were so many opportunities to stop the shooter.

One sniper peaces out at the end of his shift, with a casual, "just so you know," message about Crooks. He emphasized that the shooter would know they are in the AGR building. That sentence confused me, because, 1) How would Crooks know that there were more snipers in that building after the end-of-shift guy left? and 2) Was it supposed to be a positive or a negative that Crooks would know that the others were in the AGR building? Like, he knows you're there so he won't try anything? Or he knows you're there so be careful?

Also, did Crooks park by local LE with a car full of IEDs?

Then, did a "uniform" ever come to check things out? Did anybody tell the secret service?

The communications were lethally lacking.

One thing that should be clear is that this was not some kind of plot by Secret Service to harm Trump. Is remains possible that secret service should have done proactive communication. But is is clear that other agencies did not do adequate reactive communication regarding the suspicious person lurking and using a range finder. And secret service could not have orchestrated that.

So, the theory held by some, not necessarily here on Websleuths, that the secret service was behind an attempted hit, is completely debunked.

MOO

 

[SpanishInquisition]

As more and more information comes out, it seems to get bumblier and worse. There were so many opportunities to stop the shooter.

One sniper peaces out at the end of his shift, with a casual, "just so you know," message about Crooks. He emphasized that the shooter would know they are in the AGR building. That sentence confused me, because, 1) How would Crooks know that there were more snipers in that building after the end-of-shift guy left? and 2) Was it supposed to be a positive or a negative that Crooks would know that the others were in the AGR building? Like, he knows you're there so he won't try anything? Or he knows you're there so be careful?

Also, did Crooks park by local LE with a car full of IEDs?

Then, did a "uniform" ever come to check things out? Did anybody tell the secret service?

The communications were lethally lacking.

One thing that should be clear is that this was not some kind of plot by Secret Service to harm Trump. Is remains possible that secret service should have done proactive communication. But is is clear that other agencies did not do adequate reactive communication regarding the suspicious person lurking and using a range finder. And secret service could not have orchestrated that.

So, the theory held by some, not necessarily here on Websleuths, that the secret service was behind an attempted hit, is completely debunked.

MOO

The Secret Service knew about Crooks as a suspicious person reported by local LE. From the rooftop video after Crooks was dead:
"A Beaver County sniper seen and sent the pictures out, this is him," one Secret Service agent can be heard saying in the video, referring to the shooter's body.

"I don't know if you got the same ones I did?" an officer asks the agent of the photos.

"I think I did, yeah, he's [the shooter] got his glasses on," the agent replies.

The officer adds the sniper "sent the original pictures, and seen him (the shooter) come from the bike, and set the book bag down, and then lost sight of him".

New footage shows US officer standing over Trump gunman's body

Bodycam video shows the immediate aftermath of the Trump shooting on the rooftop where the gunman was killed.

www.bbc.com

So far it seems like the Secret Service sat on their hands until after the shooter was killed, which I see a huge problem in not having a clear delineation of responsibilities, like it might have been by design that the Secret Service wouldn't go into that non-Secret Service perimeter and expected local LE to handle the suspicious person in their assigned zone. I highly doubt there was any sort of conspiracy, just seems like there was very poor communication from the Secret Service.

 

[Elley Mae]

In a news conference early Sunday morning, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, Kevin Rojek, had confirmed that the FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting and that it “is our assessment at this time” that law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing.

“It is surprising,” Rojek said when asked about the gunman’s close vicinity to the rally. He said that proximity is among the details that will be a focus of the investigation. Rojek added: “The Secret Service really needs to answer that question. They conduct the initial site survey.”

What went wrong? How did Secret Service allow shooter to get so close to Trump?

A former Secret Service director tells USA TODAY that protection for Trump should have extended to 1,000 yards. Alleged shooter fired from 150 yards.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Ruminations]

The Secret Service knew about Crooks as a suspicious person reported by local LE. From the rooftop video after Crooks was dead:
"A Beaver County sniper seen and sent the pictures out, this is him," one Secret Service agent can be heard saying in the video, referring to the shooter's body.

"I don't know if you got the same ones I did?" an officer asks the agent of the photos.

"I think I did, yeah, he's [the shooter] got his glasses on," the agent replies.

The officer adds the sniper "sent the original pictures, and seen him (the shooter) come from the bike, and set the book bag down, and then lost sight of him".

New footage shows US officer standing over Trump gunman's body

Bodycam video shows the immediate aftermath of the Trump shooting on the rooftop where the gunman was killed.

www.bbc.com

So far it seems like the Secret Service sat on their hands until after the shooter was killed, which I see a huge problem in not having a clear delineation of responsibilities, like it might have been by design that the Secret Service wouldn't go into that non-Secret Service perimeter and expected local LE to handle the suspicious person in their assigned zone. I highly doubt there was any sort of conspiracy, just seems like there was very poor communication from the Secret Service.

Thanks. That does suggest Secret Service had a pic sometime before shooting Crooks.

They hardly sat on their hands, though. They shot him dead. They didn't do anything foolish like leave their own rooftop to find the boy in the text, nor did the body people leave Trump.

It is all horrific.

The thoughts about expanding the perimeter and only using Secret Service snipers is not a bad idea, but it is not a simple change, either. It could only work if the Secret Servie had unlimited resources, or were allowed to control the candidates. "We can't do outdoors unless there is nothing for a radius of 600 yards," or, "you can't do back to back events; we need to give our agents a day off!"

Also, no matter what, there will be a radius. It can be expanded but not eliminated. At some location, other LE agencies will be in charge.

Something needs to be different, though.

MOO