Tipsheet

New Text Messages Reveal Another Troubling Update on Trump Assassination Attempt

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 29, 2024 6:30 AM

Two words describe the security situation at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13: hot mess. There are so many glaring flaws, and the ground is so inexcusable that it is fertile for conspiracy theorists. Can you blame them? The Secret Service is stonewalling and stacking sandbags amid intense scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties.

We don’t know if would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was a lone gunman. How many casings were recovered from the roof? We don’t know. What we do know is that no one at the Secret Service has been disciplined for this calamity, and now text messages obtained by The New York Times show that snipers knew about Crooks earlier than initially reported. It provides yet another damning update on the assassination attempt that nearly killed a former president. Crooks missed delivering a fatal headshot by millimeters [emphasis mine]: 

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.” 

The countersniper who sent the texts confirmed to The New York Times that the individual he saw was later identified as the gunman. 

By 5:10 p.m., the young man was no longer on the picnic table. He was right below the countersnipers, who were upstairs in a warehouse owned by AGR International. One of the countersnipers took pictures of him, according to a law enforcement after-action report, which along with the texts from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit was provided to The Times by the office of Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. The text messages were independently verified by The Times. 

At 5:38 p.m., the photos were shared in a group chat, and another text went out among the officers, saying they should inform the Secret Service. “Kid learning around building we are in. AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.” 

[…] 

Taken together, the text messages provide the most detailed picture yet of the hours before the assassination attempt. They reveal that the gunman, later identified as Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., aroused police suspicion more than 90 minutes before the shooting, rather than about 60 minutes, as has been previously discussed in congressional hearings. 

The messages also add to the evidence that the would-be assassin was often one step ahead of security forces, and in particular the Secret Service. 

The lengthy article details Crooks’ activities that we know thus far, including packages delivered to his home, where some materials were used to build a couple of makeshift explosive devices. Two were discovered in the van at the rally site, and another was found inside the residence. He scoped the rally site before the Secret Service did their walkthrough on July 8 and used a drone to conduct aerial surveillance. The Secret Service opted not to deploy one during the rally. The American Glass Research rooftop was excluded from the agency’s “inner security perimeter.” Who was tasked with covering this glaring security vulnerability remains to be verified. We know that no personnel were on the rooftop less than 200 yards, with a clear line of sight, to Mr. Trump on the rally stage. 

There were reports that Secret Service snipers had their sights on Crooks for two minutes before he opened fire, but this timeline changes the narrative again. Local SWAT teams told ABC News they had photos and details about Crooks, relaying the information that apparently never got the attention required, a damning indictment of the seemingly ramshackle communications system deployed that day.

The team took responsibility for the shooting, which injured Trump and left one man, Corey Comperatore, dead, along with two others injured. 

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How local law enforcement was deployed is another puzzling piece to this fiasco. Crooks was able to essentially roam at will; the only police who encountered him were cops who left their duties directing traffic: 

Mr. Crooks did something that alarmed the police. They saw him using the range finder.

A Beaver County countersniper shared two photos of Mr. Crooks with his colleagues at 5:38 p.m., which were then relayed to the Secret Service, through a series of steps in the command center. 

One of the two remaining countersnipers “ran out of the building attempting to keep eyes on Crooks until other law enforcement arrived,” according to a statement by Richard Goldinger, the Butler County district attorney, who supervises some of the law enforcement units. 

But Mr. Crooks ran off, taking a backpack with him, Mr. Goldinger said. When the officer was unable to find Mr. Crooks, he returned to his post. 

Four Butler Township police officers who had been directing traffic joined the manhunt. 

At 6 p.m., one officer in the group texts guessed that Mr. Crooks was moving toward the back of the complex of AGR buildings, “away from the event.” Instead, Mr. Crooks clambered onto the low-slung building in the complex closest to the stage. 

Mr. Trump took the podium at 6:03 p.m., to a roaring crowd. 

Around this time was also when onlookers noticed Crooks on the roof before shots were fired. The Secret Service reportedly knew around this time, ten minutes before he took the stage, that there was a threat against Mr. Trump. They did nothing, not even telling the former president, who said he would have waited until everything was okay. 

There were mountains of questions about the security flaws at this rally. Now, there are more, with an agency being the very definition of uncooperative.