On July 13th, the U.S. had its first assassination attempt of a presidential candidate since 1981 when John Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan. During a rally in Butler, PA, at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds. Trump spoke in front of three barns, two of which had sniper teams (positioned on sloped roofs). The shooter, Matthew Crooks, shot at and missed Trump, killing an audience member and wounding two others.
Crooks had a limited online presence and no manifesto (that has been found). His phone contained pictures of political leaders and schedules for the Trump rally and Democratic National Convention, alluding to his intentions to attend both events. He had no clear political leaning. Being a registered Republican, he also donated to the left-wing group ActBlue’s “Progressive Turnout Project” on the day Biden was inaugurated. The Progressive Turnout Project focuses on pushing Democrats who vote infrequently to vote in upcoming elections. This highlighted either a shift in political views or that he was possibly a “never-Trump” Republican.
Secret Service Director Cheatle said in an interview with ABC that the building’s sloped roof, where Crooks shot from, was too steep, posing a risk to officers placed upon it. The Secret Service then assigned local law enforcement to secure the building. The local District Attorney for Butler, PA, Richard Goldinger, stated that their personnel had communicated with the Secret Service that they didn’t have enough resources to secure the building properly.
Reportedly, the sniper teams behind Trump had caught Crooks acting strangely, looking up at the building about an hour before the shooting. They then lost sight of him in the crowd, but officers kept looking for a suspicious individual after the initial sighting.
He was later spotted on the roof with a range finder roughly 20 minutes before the shooting, along with attendees noticing that Crooks was on top of the building - to varying degrees of pre and post-awareness. Local law enforcement securing the building went up to check out the figure on the roof. When they got up there, Crooks pointed a gun at them. They fell back - then moments later, Crooks opened fire.
Director Cheatle is now called to provide testimony before the House Oversight Committee and House Homeland Security Committee next week.
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