After law enforcement detected the possible killer, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and classified him as a user of interest, he managed to disappear from sight and climb to a roof with a direct line to the former president. He then opened fire and hit Trump in the ear with a bullet, according to the FBI, killing one man in the ear and seriously wounding two others.
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“This question is the key,” said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD detective who has been in the command center on other VIP occasions. “That’s where the investigation will ultimately come down. “
Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U. S. Secret Service agents after a bullet hit him in the ear during a rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The fact that law enforcement knew Crooks as a suspicious individual before Trump arrived on the scene is indicative of a communication failure, he said.
Authorities were actively searching for Crooks when Trump came out to begin his speech, and if the shooter hadn’t been disturbed by a local police officer who looked over the ceiling looking for the suspect, he could have died on the first blow, he said. Mauro.
“If it gets to that level, hold down Trump for 20 minutes until you reach it,” he added.
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After receiving a complaint that there were no agents stationed on the roof because it was “tilted,” Cheatle told lawmakers last week that the Secret Service “prefers sterile roofs,” meaning ones secured so no one can climb on them. they.
But the alleged killer managed to climb even though long before the shooting he was known as a suspicious user.
An aerial symbol shows investigators probing the domain of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Fox Flight Crew)
“It’s the elephant in the room,” said Michael Verden, a former Secret Service agent and founder of Lake Forest Group, a security company. “What we want to decide is why there was no presence on that roof. ”
The police commissioner of the state of Paris, Pennsylvania, said that on a guided tour before the demonstration, the Secret Service told him that a tactical team from Butler County had been assigned to cover the roof.
Several investigations similar to the event are underway, some focusing on security breaches and others on Crooks itself. This consultation will be for those involved in making plans and securing the event.
A Secret Service agent in tactical gear looks outside as left-wing agents encroach on former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a shooting at a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“For the USSSS investigation, it is vital to know this, so that the user in question is held accountable,” said Nicole Parker, a former FBI agent. “The idea that authorities knew about a possible threat, so why didn’t they cover it up?” all possible vulnerabilities. “They have been blocked anyway, but especially when they learned of the lifestyle of a suspicious or threatening individual. “
Little is known about Crooks’ motivations. The FBI said last week that it is a key focus of its investigation.
Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. A Secret Service counterattacker shot and killed him after the 20-year-old opened fire in a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Obtained via Fox News Digital)
“What was the occasion or series of occasions that triggered your decision to embark on a path of violence?” asked Parker, who has reveled in investigating mass shootings after the Parkland bloodbath in Florida.
He said officials needed to identify the “triggering stressor” that turned Crooks from a student living with his parents into a potential killer.
Authorities said Crooks had no criminal history or documented intellectual illness. The murder weapon he bought legally through his father in 2013.
Last week’s congressional testimony spoke little about possible radicalization or ideology, yet a former classmate told Fox News Digital that Crooks “doesn’t like politicians. “
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With whom, if any, did the thieves use their encrypted apps?
The scammers had an empty online presence, but the FBI is analyzing their devices.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said last week that investigators had already discovered troubling Google searches, adding the word “how far is Oswald from Kennedy?”But he also mentioned that the criminals used encrypted messaging apps.
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Even if the government says it acted alone, there may be clues in its communications.
Virtually all criminals today leave some sort of evidence on their devices, according to Ashton Packe, a former Las Vegas detective who served on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“I find it very attractive that it involves encryption,” Verden told Fox News Digital.
Law enforcement took this photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks after calling him a suspicious individual prior to the assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Obtained via Fox News Digital)
This can slow down efforts to analyze one’s own virtual footprint, he said.
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“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but we want to verify that he acted alone and was not competing with others,” he added. “And that’s a very important component of this investigation . . . the background of this guy and what he’s done to date. ”
The offenders fatally beat Corey Comperatore, 50, and wounded David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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