As more information is beginning to trickle out about Thomas Matthew Crooks and the Secret Service’s performance before and during the Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania Saturday, it’s not looking good for the feds in general and the agency whose job is to “protect our nation’s leaders” specifically.
While little information has been discovered about what could have motivated him (the FBI finally managed to crack the shooter’s phone, but reportedly found nothing), Thomas Crooks has been described by those who knew him in much the same ways as most assassins and mass shooters of the past. According to the media he was quiet, a loner, and bullied and not well liked by most of his peers.
He was also apparently a bad shot, at least he was back when he was in high school.
According to ABC News . . .
[Jameson] Myers and another student said that Crooks tried to join the high school’s rifle team but was rejected and asked not to return after a “preseason” session.
“He didn’t just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous,” said Myers.
Another member of the team, who asked not to be named, told ABC News that there was a view that Crooks “wasn’t really fit for the rifle team.”
“He also shot terrible,” the team member added.
The coach of the team at the time declined to comment and referred questions to the school district. In a statement, school district said that Crooks “never appeared on a roster” and that there is “no record” of him having tried out.
Crooks eventually found another outlet for his interest in guns that allowed him improve his skills . . .
Crooks, however, did belong to a local shooting club, counsel for the club confirms to ABC News, Clairton Sportsmen’s Club.
“I can confirm that Mr. Crooks was a member of Clairton Sportsmen’s Club. Beyond that, the Club is unable to make any additional commentary in relation to this matter in light of pending law enforcement investigations,” said Robert S. Bootay III, attorney for the club. “Obviously, the Club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred yesterday. The Club also offers its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former President.”
While Crooks likely only missed Trump’s head because the former President happened to turn at exactly the right moment, we can all be thankful that Crooks didn’t possess better shooting skills than he did.
Which brings us to the performance of the Secret Service, who was responsible for securing the site and ensuring the former President’s safety. Last night, CBS News reporter Olivia Rinaldi reported some jaw-dropping details in a Twitter stream. Here’s the published report under Anna Schechter’s byline . . .
There were three snipers stationed inside the building the shooter used during Saturday’s shooting of former President Donald Trump, a local law enforcement officer with direct knowledge of the incident tells CBS News.
The operations plan had them stationed inside the building looking out windows toward the Trump rally. The information about the three snipers being inside the building was first reported by BeaverCountian.com.
One of the snipers inside saw Thomas Matthew Crooks outside and looking up at the roof, observing the building and disappearing, a local law enforcement officer tells CBS News.
Crooks came back, sat down and looked at his phone. At that point, one of the snipers took a picture of him. Crooks took out a rangefinder and the sniper radioed to the command post. Crooks disappeared again and then came back a third time with a backpack. The snipers called in with information that he had a backpack and said he was walking towards the back of the building.
Officers believe that Crooks might have used an air conditioning unit to get on top of the roof.
By the time other officers came for backup, he had climbed on top of the building and was positioned above and behind the snipers inside the building, the officer said.
Two other officers who heard the sniper’s call tried to get onto the roof. State police started rushing to the scene, but by that time, a Secret Service sniper had already killed Crooks, the officer said.
Other reports have said the people stationed inside the building were local police. Either way, it sounds like Crooks wasn’t walking around the area with a rifle over his shoulder or in a case. The AR-pattern rifle was likely stowed in that backpack taken down.
Whichever law enforcement officers were there — local, state, or Secret Service — you would think that once they observed a man casing the area and taking readings with a rangefinder, that would have aroused enough suspicion for them to approach and question him, long before he climbed onto the roof of the building in which they were stationed.
Meanwhile after failing to make a Secret Service spokesman available for the initial press conference Saturday night after the shooting, and then dodging all questions in a second press conference on Sunday, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle finally showed her face for the cameras in an interview with ABC News yesterday.
In her first network interview since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said that the Pennsylvania rally shooting was “unacceptable.”
“It was unacceptable,” she said in an interview Monday with ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas. “And it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
That’s probably very comforting to the former President as well as the other rally attendees who were killed and injured.
As the head of the agency, Cheatle said it’s her responsibility to investigate what went wrong and make sure nothing like it can happen again.
“The buck stops with me,” she said. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Cheatle responded to reports that the suspect was seen and identified as potentially suspicious before he opened fire, saying that “a very short period of time” passed between then and the shooting.
“I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” she said. “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”
She should be the last person on earth to investigate what happened. That needs to be done by people who don’t have a vested interest in making the Service look good.
Then Cheatle tried to deflect at least some of the responsibility for Saturday’s failures onto the locals when asked about securing the building where Crooks was positioned . . .
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
Things got even more bizarre when Cheatle came up with a reason why they weren’t concerned about access to the building from which Crooks fired at Trump . . .
“That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she said.
Meanwhile, there’s been a cacophony of calls for accountability for the failures that resulted in Trump cheating death only thanks to sheer luck.
In the days since the attack, Cheatle and the Secret Service have faced heightening scrutiny for failing to prevent the incident from happening, and even calls from some to resign.
Cheatle said she would not resign from her role.
That should surprise no one. Biden didn’t fire Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after he went missing for days without explanation, not only potentially affecting national security, but also embarrassing his boss in grand fashion. Why would anyone expect that a DEI hire like Cheatle, who was hand-selected by the de facto President First Lady, would have to worry about keeping her job after a little thing like an assassination near miss?
Meanwhile, Congress is promising an investigation. Biden has called for an “independent” investigation, whatever that means. But there’s still a lot left to be determined about not only Thomas Matthew Crooks, but also how a federal agency that’s responsible for protecting high profile individuals allowed a man with a rifle access to a rooftop with a clear line of sight within easy shooting distance from a major party candidate.
Roof was sloped? …..huh didn’t look like much of an incline. Well more weird shit to watch for.
That ‘slope’ was so shallow it’s laughable.
I’m very interested in discovering the names of the persons who denied requested additional Secret Service security and who their political party is. Oh, and who deemed 150 yards to be ‘outside the security perimeter’…
I like how Dan’s counter to her comment was just a picture of them easily standing on that dangerously sloped roof.
The Butler County Sheriff released a statement clarifying that the local LEO who attempted to climb onto the roof and confront Crooks “rightfully and smartfully [sic] let go” when Crooks aimed his rifle at the LEO’s own head before turning back toward Trump and firing at least five confirmed shots. The FBI has interviewed the officer, and the MSM is reporting that the local LE is very frustrated. If the Sheriff’s report turns out to be what truly happened, then that LEO who dropped from the edge of the roof can’t be blamed. But let’s wait for the full details.
What really bothers me is the clear line-of-sight that was allowed from that rooftop to the stage, in opposition to preparations usually taken before a POTUS (current for former) enters an open space. Rally-goers have stated that they typically observe large materials purposefully situated to mitigate such vulnerabilities, such as parking a truck, crane, etc to block the LOS. This 160-yd shot by a relatively inexperienced 20-yrd-old was too obvious to gloss over as a mere “oopsie”. Several ex-SS, snipers, and security experts have opined that the circumstances suggest someone on the inside orchestrated this.
I have worked on top of metal roofs with such low slopes as the buildings where the would-be assassin plied his trade. They are not slippery (to the point of being dangerous) when they are dry.
Would a metal tool laying on that metal roof slide off? Almost guaranteed. Would objects (including humans) on common fabrics and rubber pads slide off of that roof? Absolutely NOT.
It is reasonable that if Crooks could maintain his balance and fire multiple shots with a rifle while perched on the slanted roof, that others could have been placed up there for security too.
““That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside,” she said.
They couldn’t go on the roof for safety reasons, but others can and did. Makes perfect illogical sense.
The Director basically said, we’ll secure the “inside” of the building, but the roof is on it’s own.
That in and of itself seems like a huge lack of a full coverage of possible sniper locations.
There were several easy ways to secure the entire(roof included) building, yet the SS chose to secure from the “inside”.
House Oversight Committee should be demanding the recordings of the SS comms before they get “misplaced.”
Reports are that command was notified that there was someone on that roof minutes before the dirtbag started shooting. The fact that they tried to get an officer onto the roof to check that out would confirm such reports.
If command was notified that there was someone on the roof, the SS countersnipers would doubtlessly have had eyes on him immediately — they’d just have had to glass that roof and they would have seen him.
The fact that the countersnipers took the dirtbag out shortly after he started shooting also strongly suggests they had already acquired him as a target before the first shots were fired.
If, as therefore appears likely, the countersnipers saw him *before* he started shooting, and if reports are correct that they then requested permission to engage (and such was denied or otherwise not given by SS command), then whoever made that call needs to be pilloried. And given the “DEI uber alies” agenda of the current SS head, I won’t be shocked if said person turns out to be another DEI hire / promotion.
And what’s the tallest structure in the area? The damn water tower! Why didn’t they have eyes up there?
Screwup of gargantuan proportions. Which, under the current administration, means nobody will be held accountable.
“And what’s the tallest structure in the area? The damn water tower! Why didn’t they have eyes up there?”
the Trump campaign reports the asked and were denied additional security. Trump has his own personal security, I hope he puts them in a supervisory position over the Secret Service.
And what political party was the person who denied the additional security?
Too late. Those comms have already been buried. The CYA doctrine is Supreme!
It looks like the counter snipers were on a sloped roof also.
Full spectrum incompetence and authorities making excuses for said incompetence allow conspiracy theories to flourish.
How many conspiracy theories would vanish or diminish if the authorities involved would just admit they fucked up.
Do we want a public that sees their federal betters as fallible human beings not actually better or more qualified than other slob or do we want a public that thinks hyper-capable overlords are pulling invisible strings to make outlandish things happen?
The SS counter snipers on the roof behind trump where on a roof with a much greater pitch than the roof the shooter was on. That is a lame excuse by a lame individual whom has not a clue. That was a BS excuse