The odd details from the July 13, 2024, attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump just keep piling up. We keep learning more about what happened, but it still isn't making any sense.
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00:00The unusual details surrounding the July 13th, 2024
00:04assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump
00:07continue to emerge.
00:08Despite ongoing revelations,
00:09the situation remains puzzling,
00:11leaving more questions than answers
00:13about what truly transpired.
00:15Several attendees at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally
00:18reported seeing the alleged shooter,
00:20Thomas Matthew Crooks, crawling on the rooftop
00:22as he prepared to take aim,
00:24according to various news outlets.
00:25I'm standing there pointing at him
00:27for, you know, two or three minutes.
00:30Secret Service is looking at us from the top of the barn.
00:32I'm pointing at that roof.
00:34Witness Greg Smith told the BBC
00:36that Crooks likely went unnoticed by Secret Service agents
00:39due to the roof's slope.
00:40Another observer told CBS News
00:42they saw Crooks moving across rooftops
00:45from one building to another and alerted law enforcement.
00:47Multiple other witnesses shared similar accounts,
00:50reinforcing the story of Crooks' rooftop movements
00:53during the incident.
00:54A guy beside me looks over and said,
00:56he has a gun, he has a gun.
00:59Given that many rally attendees
01:01reportedly spotted the shooter before the attack,
01:03questions have arisen about why the Secret Service
01:06and local police didn't intervene sooner.
01:08Trump's stage was positioned near three adjacent buildings
01:11with sloped, triangular roofs,
01:13offering potential high ground vantage points.
01:15Additionally, there was a smaller building nearby
01:18and a larger factory past a tree line,
01:20the roof of the AGR International Building,
01:22roughly 150 yards away.
01:24Though the farthest was well within range
01:26for an accurate shot with the AR-style rifle Crooks used.
01:30So why was no one stationed there?
01:32The Secret Service is now reportedly investigating
01:34this very question, according to ABC News.
01:37Crooks, dressed in grey camouflage,
01:39remained motionless after positioning himself.
01:42Once he fired several rounds,
01:43the Secret Service counter-sniper team,
01:45positioned on different rooftops, neutralized him.
01:48However, these agents were also quite far from his location.
01:51This raises questions about why no agents
01:54were stationed on the AGR building's roof,
01:56which could have provided a better line of sight
01:58to prevent the attack.
01:59As a former Secret Service agent told NBC News,
02:02someone should have been on the roof
02:04or securing the building so no one could get on the roof.
02:07Officials confirmed that many recognized
02:09the AGR building as a potential security risk,
02:12but responsibility for securing it remains unclear.
02:15Sources told NBC News that while the Secret Service
02:18flagged the building as a concern,
02:19they left it to local police to handle.
02:21However, Butler County District Attorney,
02:23Richard Goldinger, disputed this,
02:25adding to the confusion surrounding
02:27who was ultimately accountable
02:29for ensuring the building was secured during the event.
02:32The Secret Service ran the show.
02:34They were the ones who designated who did what.
02:36To me, the whole thing is under the jurisdiction
02:39of the Secret Service.
02:40I would have expected that they would have had
02:42that building secured.
02:43Days after the shooting, no definitive answers emerged
02:46regarding how Crooks accessed the roof
02:48or why the building was excluded
02:50from the Secret Service's secured perimeter.
02:52Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheetle,
02:55in an interview with ABC News,
02:57admitted that several buildings in the surrounding area
03:00had been delegated to local law enforcement for security.
03:03She acknowledged the challenges
03:04of securing all nearby structures,
03:06but emphasized the need for thorough coordination
03:09between agencies in high-risk situations like this one.
03:12The Secret Service is responsible
03:13for the protection of the former president.
03:15Kimberly Cheetle confirmed that local police
03:17were responsible for securing the AGR building.
03:20She explained to ABC News
03:22why no officers were stationed on the roof,
03:24stating that certain logistical challenges
03:26and miscommunication may have contributed to the oversight
03:29during the event's security planning.
03:31That building in particular has a sloped roof
03:33at its highest point,
03:34and so there's a safety factor
03:36that would be considered there
03:38that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof.
03:40And so the decision was made
03:42to secure the building from inside.
03:44Reports from the BBC and other outlets
03:46claimed three police snipers
03:48were stationed inside the AGR building,
03:50but a police spokesperson told the New York Times
03:53this wasn't true.
03:53Instead, local officers were in an adjacent building.
03:56According to the Times,
03:58local law enforcement agencies
03:59confirmed their counter-snipers
04:01were positioned on the second floor of another building
04:03and had orders to focus on the crowd
04:05rather than securing rooftops.
04:07Former Secret Service agents have since weighed in,
04:10noting that a sloped roof
04:11doesn't automatically disqualify a building
04:14from being used as a sniper position.
04:16In fact, during the shooting,
04:17Secret Service snipers occupied another nearby building
04:21with an even steeper roof.
04:23According to the Washington Post,
04:2586 seconds elapsed
04:26between bystanders' initial warnings and the shooting.
04:29However, it has emerged that local law enforcement
04:32had been aware of Crooks' suspicious behavior
04:34long before the incident.
04:35Authorities had flagged him as a potential threat
04:38before he even ascended the AGR building.
04:40Reports indicate officers saw him scouring the grounds
04:43with a rangefinder, a clear sign of his intentions.
04:46An unnamed US official told NBC News
04:49that Crooks had been pacing and acting erratically
04:52near the magnetometers set up for rally security.
04:55His behavior was suspicious enough
04:56that local officers began pursuing him on foot,
04:59relaying their concerns to the Secret Service.
05:01Despite this, former Secret Service agents
05:04have questioned why no plainclothes agents
05:06were dispatched to handle the potential threat.
05:08Some reports suggest agents may have tried to track Crooks
05:11but ultimately lost sight of him
05:13before the fatal shooting occurred.
05:15CBS News reports that during a congressional briefing,
05:18two sources revealed that Secret Service agents
05:21first reported seeing Crooks at 5.52 p.m.,
05:24roughly 19 minutes before the shooting.
05:26NBC News added that Pennsylvania State Police
05:29were aware of Crooks up to an hour before the attack,
05:31but only informed local authorities,
05:34who then took 30 minutes to pass the information
05:36to the Secret Service.
05:37Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming
05:39criticized the Secret Service's congressional briefing
05:42as a cover-your-ass briefing,
05:44pointing out that the shooter's presence and actions
05:46were not adequately addressed.
05:48Had a range finder, a backpack,
05:50and then they lost sight of him
05:52and never really followed up on that.
05:53Fox News reported that on Saturday,
05:55Crooks' parents informed the police that their son,
05:58along with his father's AR-style 5.56 rifle, was missing.
06:02Details on the police's response to this report
06:04remain undisclosed.
06:06Given the advance notice and identified threat,
06:08it remains puzzling why Trump was permitted to go on stage.
06:12ABC News reports that Secret Service snipers
06:14managed to lock onto Crooks just 11 seconds
06:17after he fired his first shot
06:19and killed him 15 seconds later.
06:21While this response may seem swift,
06:22every fraction of a second is critical
06:24in such tense situations.
06:26The effectiveness of their reaction raises questions.
06:28According to the Washington Post,
06:30retired snipers, including a former Secret Service agent
06:33and a former Marine sniper,
06:35suggested that the roofs, slope, and surrounding trees
06:38might have obstructed the sniper's view.
06:40Jason Lawless, a retired sniper
06:42from the Tulsa Police Department,
06:43noted that one Northern team sniper flinched
06:46and had to readjust after Crooks fired.
06:48The Southern team, meanwhile, appeared to reposition itself,
06:51possibly indicating awareness of the threat.
06:53Audio experts, analyzing footage of the incident,
06:56identified 10 gunshots.
06:58The first eight, fired over a span of six seconds,
07:00had similar acoustic profiles.
07:02Following this burst, two additional shots
07:04came from different locations,
07:05each with distinct sound signatures.
07:07This analysis, while not infallible,
07:09implies that the security team may have locked onto Crooks
07:12about six seconds after he began shooting.
07:14The dramatic image of Donald Trump
07:16with blood on his face and ear,
07:18raising his fist after the assassination attempt,
07:20is undeniably striking.
07:22However, it raises questions about whether agents
07:24should have permitted him to expose himself further
07:27or retrieve his shoes, which came off during his fall.
07:29Should security have intervened to ensure his safety
07:32in such a vulnerable moment?
07:34Let me get my shoes on.
07:35Even though Crooks was confirmed neutralized,
07:37Secret Service protocol dictates assuming multiple threats.
07:41If another shooter had been present on July 13th,
07:43former President Trump could have been at significant risk.
07:47Richard H., a UK close protection expert
07:49and ex-Royal Military Police member,
07:51shared his concerns with NBC News,
07:53emphasizing the importance of thorough vigilance.
07:56"'The moment you know you are getting incoming rounds,
07:58you grab hold onto that boss and you throw him into a car
08:02and you get out of there as quickly as you can
08:04with the maximum amount of aggression,' H. continued.
08:07They stayed on that stage for over a minute.
08:09What on earth were they doing?
08:10It was shocking."
08:11Jeffrey James, a retired Secret Service veteran
08:14with 22 years of experience,
08:16told The New York Times that immediate action
08:18would have been taken to move the president out of harm's way
08:21if he had been on stage.
08:23He stated,
08:24"'We are going, and we are going now.
08:25If it's me, I'm buying him a new pair of shoes.'"
08:28According to The Washington Post,
08:29local police informed the Secret Service
08:31before the Saturday rally that they lacked the resources
08:34to monitor the AGR building where Crooks positioned himself.
08:38The reason the Secret Service didn't deploy their own resources
08:41to cover this gap remains unclear.
08:43Jason Russell, a former Secret Service agent,
08:45told the BBC,
08:47"'The Secret Service doesn't have unlimited resources
08:49in terms of agents that they can post everywhere.'"
08:52On Today, former Secret Service agent, A.V. Pompouras,
08:55described it as follows.
08:57You have to think of the Secret Service
08:58like they're the conductor of the orchestra.
09:01They create the blueprint and design for the security plan.
09:04Ohio Representative Jim Jordan,
09:06in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray,
09:08proposed that the Secret Service might have been overextended, stating,
09:12"'Whistleblowers have disclosed to the Committee
09:14that the U.S. Secret Service did not have proper resources
09:17for President Trump's campaign event
09:19because of staffing shortages due to the NATO summit
09:22and First Lady Jill Biden's event in Pittsburgh.'
09:25Roll Call reports that financial constraints
09:27should not have contributed to any security lapses at the rally.
09:30For fiscal year 2024,
09:32the Secret Service's budget increased by over 9%,
09:35totaling $3.1 billion,
09:38nearly $100 million more than President Joe Biden's original request.
09:42Specifically, funding for protective operations,
09:45which covers daily security for high-profile figures,
09:47received a substantial boost of around 24%,
09:51amounting to $1.4 billion.
09:54The FBI has confirmed that Crooks used an AR-style 5.56 rifle
09:58in his assassination attempt.
10:00Such rifles have been involved in high-profile tragedies before,
10:03including the 2015 San Bernardino shooting,
10:06which resulted in 14 deaths and 22 injuries,
10:09and the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre,
10:13which claimed 20 children and 6 adults.
10:15Although the specific model of Crooks' rifle isn't known,
10:18a similar model, the Ruger AR-556,
10:21features a barrel length of approximately 1.5 feet
10:25and an overall length ranging from 2.5 to 3 feet,
10:28weighing around 6.5 pounds.
10:30This raises concerns about how Crooks managed to transport the rifle
10:33into the rally's vicinity.
10:35CBS News reports that authorities suspect Crooks
10:38may have concealed the weapon beforehand
10:40or smuggled it in using his backpack.
10:42There's speculation he might have hidden the rifle
10:44near an air-conditioning unit on the AGR building.
10:47A source within the Secret Service informed Fox News
10:50that Crooks did indeed conceal the weapon prior to the rally,
10:53but the exact location remains uncertain.
10:56The source indicated,
10:58we went from Gulf Range Finder to AR-15,
11:01and now we have to fill in the gap.