Updated Report Details Secret Service Misaction Thwart Assassination
NEW Details Show Secret Service INCOMPETENCE
A fresh theory has surfaced amidst the cloud of justifications regarding how Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to access a roof with a direct line of sight to former President Donald Trump.
At a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks utilized the roof as a sniper’s perch, inflicting wounds on Trump and two other individuals while also killing one.
In a post on X, conservative pundit Benny Johnson, who was one of many people who inspected the area where the assassination attempt occurred, claimed that a “first-class source of highest credentials” had presented him with an alternative version of events explaining why Crooks was allowed to take advantage of a vacant position on the second floor of a building that overlooked the roof.
“The snipers in this location should have easily been able to engage Crooks before he ever came close to scope site of Trump. Yet, Crooks was able to fire that day without anyone engaging from this position. Why? That answer is total and complete incompetence from Secret Service,” Johnson wrote.
“There was a three-man SWAT sniper team located in this position. One member of the team went home early — not sure how this was allowed but it happened. The remaining two snipers positioned in this room were notified that a suspicious individual [Crooks] was lurking outside the building,” he continued.
The account, on its website, is similar to the testimony given by Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris before the House Homeland Security Committee, with a few differences.
“That is my understanding,” he responded when asked if the officers stationed where they could view the roof had departed their posts.
Only one cop remained, according to Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger, as reported by CNN.
“Both ESU officers moved within the building, attempting to keep eyes on Crooks,” Goldinger said in a statement. “One of the officers observed Crooks sitting on a picnic table at the front of the building from his location on the second floor of the building. Crooks then ran off, carrying a backpack.”
“At this point, that officer ran out of the building attempting to keep eyes on Crooks until other law enforcement arrived. The other officer remained in the building, on the second floor,” Goldinger said. “The officer who ran out of the building could not locate Crooks, and he returned to the building. Both officers then heard shots fired.”
Although the video shown by Johnson indicated the room where officers were placed had a clear view of the roof, Goldinger noted “neither officer could see Crooks on the other building due to the visual angle they had from their location to Crooks’ location.”
Regarding the question of whether one person fled, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri made a similar argument—albeit with somewhat different details—in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.