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Join Telegram ChannelBUTLER, Pennsylvania – An analysis of aerial footage from the Butler Farm Show, the site where Thomas Matthew Crooks shot former President Trump and killed a bystander, exposes apparent tactical shortcomings in the U.S. Secret Service's counter-sniper strategy on July 13, an expert says.
Crooks, 20, killed local firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, when he fired a volley of bullets at Trump from a rooftop about 150 yards away at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Fairgrounds.
Paul Mauro, a former New York police detective and Fox News contributor, told America's Newsroom that he spoke with attendees who said the entire event didn't feel “safe” compared to other gatherings. They told him they weren't wand-checked or scanned with a metal detector upon entering the venue.
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The Butler Farm Show, site of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, is seen Monday, July 15, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt on July 13 while speaking at the rally. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Drone footage of the 100-acre site shows the scene and two red buildings, where snipers were stationed.
While Crooks had a full view of them from the top of the gray building below across from the stage, Mauro said tree growth and the angle of the snipers made only part of that roof visible.
Mauro spoke with Butler residents who have attended Trump rallies in the past and who said the July 13 rally seemed “very disorganized.”
A source close to the investigation told Fox News that the sniper who killed Crooks with a single bullet had a one-in-a-million chance and could only see the top of his head and the scope of his gun because of the edge of the roof.
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Pictured is the building that Thomas Crooks climbed to shoot former President Trump. Former New York City police detective Paul Mauro suspects Crooks used the hallway next to both buildings to climb to the roof and hid his AR-15 in the air conditioner pictured. (Fox News)
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle previously said the sloping roof of the building where Crooks was perched posed a “security hazard” and that agents were stationed inside the building.
“If you look at the windows that face the scene, they appear to be very narrow and it’s not entirely clear that they can open,” Mauro said. “These windows have been described by federal officials as an observation post. It’s hard to see how these low windows, which don’t even appear to open and are positioned at ground level, could provide a very good observation post for the officers inside.”
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Secret service agents were positioned to the right and left of the red buildings. (Fox News)
Corridors that connected the building to another nearby building provided an access point through which Crooks could have climbed to the roof, Mauro said. An air conditioning unit seen from above may be where he stashed his AR-15 before the rally, sources told Mauro.
Meanwhile, windows that provided officers with a direct view of the roof from a nearby building are also visible in the footage.
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Former NYPD detective Paul Mauro wondered how the U.S. Secret Service agents stationed inside the building were able to adequately monitor the gathering through those small, low windows that may not have opened. (Fox News)
“It’s almost impossible that they missed Tom Crooks climbing up on that roof holding an AR-15,” Mauro said.
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Cheatle will appear before lawmakers on Monday over the assassination attempt. An independent committee has been appointed to review the agency's actions before and during the attack.