A series of bombshell text messages from countersnipers tasked with protecting Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally have revealed that they were aware of gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, over 90 minutes before Trump was shot at, contradicting earlier FBI claims that they noticed him only an hour before the incident. This revelation has sparked a massive inquiry into the security failures surrounding the July 13th shooting, which Trump miraculously survived. The aftermath of the attempt has already led to the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The text messages, obtained by the New York Times from local law enforcement, show that one of the three countersnipers noticed Crooks at around 4:26 p.m., while he was about to end his shift. The sniper identified Crooks sitting on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit. In a message to his team, he wrote, “Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know. I’m just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there.”
The other countersnipers responded with a thumbs-up emoji and a “Roger that.” At 5:38 p.m., Crooks was seen beneath the countersnipers’ position, and one of them photographed him multiple times and shared the pictures in the group chat. “Kid lurking around the building we are in,” one sniper wrote. “I did see him with a range finder looking towards the stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.”
Despite these warnings, the report on Crooks was not called in until 5:40 p.m. Within the next half hour, Crooks opened fire, hitting Trump and killing retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore. Trump was photographed with blood around his ear shortly after the attack.
Witnesses reported seeing Crooks crawling onto the roof of the American Glass Research building, from where he fired eight shots with an AR-style rifle before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. Crooks had been spotted at the rally three hours before the shooting, carrying a rangefinder and arousing the suspicions of the Secret Service. Despite this, he was neither stopped nor questioned.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, during his testimony to Congress, revealed that Crooks had searched online for information about Lee Harvey Oswald’s distance from John F. Kennedy when he shot him. Crooks registered to attend the Butler rally on the same day he conducted these searches, suggesting premeditation. Wray also disclosed that Crooks had flown a drone 200 yards from the rally stage two hours before the shooting and had three explosives in his car.
The resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came amid mounting questions over the security lapses at the rally. Cheatle admitted that agents on the ground were warned multiple times about a “suspicious person” before Trump took the stage. She faced criticism for not having an agent stationed on the roof from where Crooks opened fire and for allowing Trump to speak despite the detected threat.
The FBI continues to investigate the shooting by Crooks as an act of domestic terrorism. However, no clear motive has been established yet, and authorities have not found any ideological material that could explain Crooks’ actions.
SOURCE: NY TIMES
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