Newly Bodycam footage released The chaos that ensued before and after Thomas Crooks’ attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month has been revealed.
Butler Township Police Department On Thursday, 12 body camera videos were released that show the massive safety lapse that nearly led to the presidential candidate’s fall, killed a retired fire chief and seriously injured two others.
On July 13, Crooks managed to climb onto a rooftop and fired eight shots at the former president just 147 yards away as he addressed a crowd on stage. A countersniper stationed on a nearby rooftop killed Crooks with a shot to the head.
Trump firing: Timeline of the assassination attempt
A collage of images taken from police body camera footage of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump was released Thursday. (Butler Township Police Department)
Secret Service was asked to protect the building a few days before the rally: local police
“I told them they need to put these people over here to stop the bullshit. I told them that,” a police officer can be heard saying minutes after the assassination attempt. “Secret Service. I told them that bullshit on Tuesday.”
Another person behind the camera can be heard saying he thought the person speaking was stationed on the rooftop.
The local official replied, “No, we were inside.”
Secret Service leadership It is not yet clear why no one was posted on the rooftop, even though the President was in direct view from the rooftop, but footage shows that communications were completely cut off.
“This confirms that it was very badly organised, and that is indisputable, and the reason for this is the services.” Former NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital.
Officer’s terrifying confrontation with Trump’s would-be assassin
An officer can be seen lifting a colleague onto the roof, where Crooks was stationed with an AR-15 rifle. The shooter pointed the weapon at the officer, causing him to bend over and lose his balance while dangling over the edge of the building.
Seconds later, Crooks opened fire, hitting Trump in the ear and killing the former firefighter Corey Comperatore.
In the footage, the officer can be heard saying, as he came face to face with Crooks, “That’s pretty close bro, man — he turned his back on me.”
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The video shows the officer running out of his car to retrieve a large gun, and then joining a group of other law enforcement agents who begin surrounding the building.
The officer describes Crooks to the others preparing to climb onto the roof, telling them he has glasses and long hair. He further states that Crooks has a large weapon. Long gun And many magazines.
“Be careful,” he tells them, “because he might come at you.”
But Crooks was already dead. Later footage shows Crooks’ lifeless body surrounded by officers.
Several attendees reported that they had repeatedly warned officers at the scene of Crookes’ presence.
Police first noticed Crooks at 5:10 p.m., about 50 minutes before he shot Trump. Local law enforcement took a photo of Crooks at 5:30 p.m. and notified their superiors. But police lost track of him.
“I’m so upset. We couldn’t find him,” another officer was heard saying in the video. Bodycam footage,
The Butler Township police officer who spotted Crooks on the roof was on traffic duty at the event, yet he realized the seriousness of the situation and left his post, Mauro said.
“You can see the level of confusion,” he said.
communication breakdown
After the official Confrontation with roguesHe vents his frustration to other law enforcement officers.
“Before you motherfuckers got in here, I stuck my head up like an idiot myself, man,” the officer who was forced onto the roof said. “Then he (Crooks) turned, and I fell down, and I started fucking… I was yelling, ‘Bro, get the fuck up on the roof.’ Fuck, we’re not on the same frequency?”
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Map detailing locations of interest related to the investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump by Thomas Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Provided by Senator Chuck Grassley)
Mauro said the comments indicated that local police were not on the same radio frequency as other law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, or that their equipment was not working properly.
When the officer tried to warn secret Service The message that Crooks had a gun did not get through.
“The video confirms the assumption that there was a communication breakdown, and it cannot be ruled out,” Mauro said.
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Poor cell service further hampered the team’s ability to communicate amid the rapidly spreading crisis.
Shortly after the shooting, an officer can be heard on the video summarizing the glaring lapse.
“I would say it’s a mess … somebody messed it up,” he said.
Fox News’s Audrey Konkin, Michael Dorgan and Stephen Soares contributed to this report.
