Police body camera footage taken in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, confirms that local police took a photo of the would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and sent the photo to the US Secret Service (USSS).
A news release from Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and video provided by X also show Crooks disappearing, then reemerging and firing an AR-15 at Trump from a rooftop less than 150 yards from the stage where Trump spoke.
Senator Grassley demanded an explanation from Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Roe.
Rowe is at least an interim replacement for disgraced former trustee Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned yesterday after more than a week of intense criticism.
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Cheatle was fired from his top job at the department after Crooks attempted to assassinate President Trump and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured two others on July 13 at Butler Farm Show Grounds.
Numerous reports soon revealed that the Secret Service had seen Crooks entering the compound carrying a golf rangefinder, and that local police had also seen and photographed him, and that local police officers had seen him from the top of a ladder to the roof where Crooks was lying in wait, but retreated when Crooks threatened them with a rifle.
Additionally, the Secret Service had relied on local police to provide security around the perimeter, and neither the police nor federal agencies had any officers or agents stationed on the roof where Crooks fired. Cheatle claimed the roof was too steep to provide a safe cover, a claim that was widely ridiculed as false.
But police body camera footage corroborates at least one of those reports. The footage shows three local officers and one Secret Service agent. The agents ask multiple questions, including which locals saw Crooks and took photos. The officer who captured the body camera footage that produced the video instructed the agents to speak with the officers inside the building.
Crooks apparently had a bicycle.
“We believe the sniper who saw this and sent the photo is in this building,” the officer said. He instructed investigators to yell “Greg.” “Greg sent the original photo, we saw him come off his bike and then we lost sight of him. That's the guy who sent the photo.”
The officer and investigator compared photos from the smartphone.
“The footage documents Beaver County and USSS officers gathering facts and reviewing the timeline of events leading up to the attempted shooting of former President Donald Trump,” Sen. Grassley's news release stated.
The video confirms the following:
1. Local police saw the shooter before he appeared on the roof.
2. Local police shared photos of the shooting suspect with the USSS, raising questions about when exactly the photos were shared.
3. Police are nowhere to be found regarding the shooting suspect.
4. Police requested the use of drones to guard water towers after the shooting.
Letter to the Secretary of DHS, USSS
Senator Grassley's letter includes a list of Secret Service agents deployed to the rally, including drone operators.
Grassley noted that Cheatle told the House Oversight Committee that police do use surveillance drones on occasion, and pointed to reports that Crooks had flown a video drone over an event hours before Trump spoke. “Is that report accurate?” Grassley asked.
Grassley has asked Meierkas and Lowe to answer the following questions by July 30:
Did the Secret Service deploy a drone? If not, why? Did local or state police request drone surveillance? If so, did the Secret Service deploy a drone? If not, why? Did an unauthorized drone fly in restricted airspace over the rally? If so, was the Secret Service drone operator aware of this, and did the operator take any countermeasures? If not, why? Who at the Secret Service made the decision to deploy a drone?
The letter requests all records related to drone surveillance and counter-drone measures.
Senator Grassley also asked whether the water tower had been removed and if it played any role in the assassination attempt.
The failure to pay for surgery costs her her job.
Cheatle's career was ended when Crooks effortlessly entered the rooftop and nearly assassinated President Trump.
Following his brutal impeachment by the House Oversight Committee on Monday, Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky and Ranking Minority Whip Jamie Raskin of Maryland called for Cheatle's resignation.
And prior to her resignation yesterday, The Washington Post reported that her agency had repeatedly rejected requests for more protection from the Trump campaign over a two-year period.
To many investigators, Cheatle's resignation was good news: President Joe Biden appointed her to the job not because she was the best qualified, but because she was a good companion to first lady Dr. Jill Biden.
“She was well-liked by the future first lady and her top aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal,” the New York Post reported two days after Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump.
“We were told Anthony was pushing her as a candidate at the time she was being considered for the role,” a second source told The Post.
According to The Washington Post, Cheatle received at least six complaints against him, which said he had never held a top position in a presidential office and was “disproportionately focused on hiring and promoting women.”
The six agents who filed the complaint were infuriated when Cheatle said the roof where Crooks fired at Trump was too steep to allow agents to be positioned safely.
