At a Pennsylvania campaign rally on July 13th, just released police body camera footage emerged showing the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on past president Donald Trump. A Butler Township police officer expressed strong resentment over what he perceived to be crucial safety blunders by the Secret Service in the video, which was made public by The Wall Street Journal through a request for public records and was later reported to Just The News.
The film includes voice of the commander, who remains unnamed, voicing his rage over the Secret Service’s failure to place officers on a rooftop from which the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots at Trump using an AR-style assault rifle. The agent is reportedly heard saying,” I told them that they needed to post people over below.” ” I told them that f—ing Tuesday. The Key Service personnel I spoke with. They’re like,’ Yeah, no trouble. We’re going to article guys over these.'”
The event, which saw the deaths of three march attendees and the injuries of three others, including Trump, have raised the barrage of investigation into the security measures in place at the rally. Crooks, the assailant, was finally neutralized by a Secret Service counter-sniper, but the new film raises further concerns about missed chances that might have prevented the attack.
A police officer is also able to talk to a suspect who was lost by the authorities sooner that day, according to the body cam sound. The officer referred to the individual, later identified as Crooks, as a “gentleman with a flat face” who had been” creeping people out”. The officer claimed in the video that Crooks had been observed watching people from a liquid tower, which raised concerns.
Prior to the shooting, earlier studies claimed Crooks ‘ authorities at the march had identified him as acting suspiciously but had lost track of him. The officer’s television spread, captured on the body cameras, reflects the anxiety and confusion among law enforcement personnel during the occasion.
In another section of the images, an official arrives at the scene and expresses astonishment to a other agent, saying,” I thought you guys were on the ceiling. I assumed you were it. I thought it was you”. The other official reacts,” No”, explaining that no officials had been stationed on the roof, leading to more stress. ” What the f—”, the first official says. ” Why were we not on the roof? Why were n’t we”?
According to the Secret Service, sharpshooters from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit were in charge of securing the building’s roof from which Crooks fired. But, a local law enforcement official recently claimed that the military crew had informed the Secret Service that its guns would be stationed inside the building rather than on the ceiling during a pre-rally walk-through. The group’s officials cited concerns about the team’s lack of snipers on the roof as a result of the team’s intense heat, which reached 90 degrees.
The most recent revelation is just one more piece of evidence that suggests major miscommunication and insufficient security measures before and during the assassination attempt. Following the incident, attention has been drawn to a detailed investigation into how local law enforcement and the Secret Service interact with one another, as well as a reexamination of safety procedures for high-profile occasions.
