In news conference held late Saturday night following an attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump, the FBI, and Pennsylvania state police declined to identified the shooter who was killed by Secret Service snipers after he’d opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. No representative of the Secret Service was available for the presser.
The dead shooter, however, has been identified by multiple outlets including the New York Post, as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. While local and federal law enforcement also declined to identify Crooks’ weapon, it had already been widely reported as an AR platform rifle.
Very little information was provided during the news conference as the FBI and state police representatives avoided answering most questions due to the ongoing investigation. They did announce, however, that in addition to Trump, three male bystanders were hit by Crooks’ fire before he was killed. One has died and two are reportedly in critical condition. The officials also said they’re confident that there are no other threats involved at this time.
From Reuters . . .
The biggest question is how did the shooter infiltrate the 2nd perimeter of security. The Secret Service generally has 3 rings of security depending on if it’s an inside or outside location. Outside the 1st ring is the immediate area around the stage. 2nd perimeter is out to the back of the crowd and the 3rd is out to approximately 800 yrds depending on terrain and buildings. Which is considered the effective range of a well trained sniper. All inside a 360 degree perimeter from the potential target. The shooter just so happened to be on the only building within 150 yards of the stage that had a clear line of sight to the stage and President Trump. Yet there was no security on, in, or around that building. That certainly asks the question of how that happened. Was it a failure of planning by the best security force in the nation or was it a purposeful omission? Considering the days and hours of planning that goes into these events the former seems less likely than the latter.
“The biggest question is how did the shooter infiltrate the 2nd perimeter of security.”
The Zero Hedge is reporting that the Trump campaign has requested additional security, but was denied several times.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-bleeding-rushed-stage-after-shots-fired-pennsylvania-rally
It will be interesting to discover the political leanings of of Secret Service high brass that denied those requests.
Nice job on finding that pic, Dan. It really shows the shooter’s best side, doesn’t it?… 🙂
I have a couple of problems with the picture of the dead shooter.
Mainly the fact that the blood across his cheek, forehead and in/around his nose is dried and cracking….while the blood on his neck, shirt and the roof is very fresh.
The blood on his head was exposed to the sun & air. The blood on his shirt & roof was covered by his body so it didn’t dry up by exposure to the elements.
Law enforcement would have been on that roof within a few minutes which is not enough time for the blood on his face to be that dark, dry, and cracking.
They have eyewitnesses of the shooter crawling up the roof.
They have video of the shooter while he was still alive firing at Trump, then the Secret Service killed the shooter.
There was no magical moving of a dummy conspiracy with that shooting, US, if that is what you are implying…
Geoff PR,
I was/am being suspicious. Since I typed my comment, I queried a close contact who has fairly extensive education (both informal and formal) in forensic science. My contact believes that it would typically take a long time (hour or more) for the blood to darken, dry, and crack on the decedent’s face. My contact also stated that it is entirely plausible that law enforcement did not take that photo until a long time later–making sure to be slow and careful in their investigation. The apparent quality of sunlight in the closeup photo also suggests a low sun angle which would mean it was about 8:15 p.m. local time which is a “long time” after the fatal shot as well.
I am by nature skeptical and critical of government investigations. It looks like this close-up photo can very well be in-line with the simple story that this 20 year-old scaled the roof, crawled into position, started shooting, and then promptly absorbed a bullet in his head.
Note that I have not seen any video of him crawling around on the roof, shooting, and then taking a bullet in his head. That obviously seals the deal if it exists.
Geoff PR,
For reference, if there is a conspiracy, I see much more reason to question that gaping hole in the security environment.
Most of us have heard the old saw, “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” And while that may be true in general, I lean toward malice when Democrats are facing off against Republicans. In this particular case I believe that malice is more likely than incompetence.
Probably because when you bleed like that you’re not just bleeding a little, it will be blood that left the body more recently. Additionally, the blood on his face is more exposed to the sun and air to dry faster
Also, TMZ has the cell phone video of the shooter just before his shots at Trump, then him getting shot by SS snipers. So it is indeed the same person.
He got want he disorved
The SS just let this happen. WW1 was started because of an assassination. And you are a fool if anyone thinks America’s enemies would not take advantage of Trumps murder.
Here are two questions that everyone should be asking;
First why is the person holding his head back for a picture?
Secondly, who took the picture and released it to the media?
Lastly, I know I said two, why is the blood splatter indicating a rear entry would?
I agree with all three of your questions, although I have some speculations (but the whole thing stinks):
First – people will take photos of anything and everything nowdays. Photos leak, even if it’s supposed to be confidential or supposed to be common decency, like leaking the photos of Kobe Bryant and his daughter after the chopper crash.
Second – photo probably taken by someone with the authority to be up there? Like local law enforcement?
Third – You are right about the fact that it was supposed to be front entry wound, above the LEFT eyebrow as reported. Don’t see anything in this photo to suggest it was a front entry wound. Even if there was time for blood to dry on the cheek and forehead, that looks like very old dried blood, not fresh, like the other blood on the deceased. Blood that cracks across flesh is old – this looks days old as compared to the blood on his shirt and ground – I know people have been saying it was because his body was on it and he was flipped over but this dried blood, obviously very old.
Listen to Benny Johnson on Youtube. He posted a video of a forensic sound/bullet expert saying there were three different types of weapons used, and that Crooks did not act alone.
To me, the bullet from the secret services guy hit Crooks just above his mouth (you can see a darker circular spot), slightly on the right, took away most of his teeth and exited on the back of the neck. That’s where you can see most of the blood on his face came from. The bump on the skin in the back of the neck indicates the exit wound, caused by the bullet starting to rotate after it encountered a bit of resistance from human tissue.
Yes, he might have received justification for his actions. However, he is a precious life and soul which has departed this world. God loves us all, even those we have all sinned. Jesus died for this young man as well as for us. The sad thing about his delusional cause to kill President Trump, he failed and lost his eternal soul in the process. There is absolutely nothing that we can say or do for this lost soul that will change anything for him. What is done, is done forever. I pray for his family, which no doubt is going through untold pain and grief because of his actions. I wish that I could have reached his heart in some way before became so filled with hate, he was only 20 years old. Thank the Lord Jesus, that our President Trump’s life was saved! America, we must returned God, I have faith that we can do better!
My question would have to do with the trajectory of the bullet. Which I haven’t seen one comment about. If he was shot through the skull above the left eye and the bullet exits the right side of the lower neck says it all. I say that shot came from above his vantage point. To the left of him!!!